Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Official inauguration ceremony

The College of Commissioners travels to a member state that holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU in order to discuss the EU’s priorities for the next six-month period with the member state’s government in question.

From 1 January, Latvia holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, followed by Luxembourg (July-December 2015), the Netherlands (January-June 2016) and Slovakia (July-December 2016).

The EU's 28 member states take in turn the chair of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU for a period of six months each. During this period, the EU Presidency chairs meetings at many levels, proposes guidelines and draws up compromises.

Busy days

Latvia is holding the rotating Presidency for the first time, from January until June 2015. The College of Commissioners and the Latvian government will discuss the priorities of the Latvian Presidency during a plenary session as well as in several "cluster debates" (see below).

Vice presidents and commissioners will have bilateral meetings with Latvian ministers and also engage in a dialogue with key stakeholders and members of the Saeima, the Latvian Parliament. Besides, on 9 January, President Jean-Claude Juncker and the Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma will also kick-off the European Year for Development 2015 which will focus on setting a new course to ending poverty, promoting development and combating climate change for a sustainable post-2015 world. 

Ahead of the visit to Latvia, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker underlined that he was impressed by the Latvian preparations and the level of ambition. He was looking forward to discussing with Latvian colleagues the ways to swiftly turn ambitions into action: boosting Europe's competitiveness by improving the investment climate, delivering a borderless digital Europe and a strong European energy union, as the EU priorities. “By working together, we will deliver,” he concluded.

Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma said that this symbolic and at the same time important and content-wise visit, will mark the beginning of Latvia’s presidency of the Council of the EU. “Our presidency’s priorities, i.e. competitive Europe, digital Europe and engaged Europe," she underlined "would be a guiding light for our work in the coming six months.”

Commissioners follow Latvian priorities

Commissioners’ visit will start with a dialogue between Latvia’s national Parliament, stakeholders and the Commission on various topics in parallel, followed by a meeting between the government of Latvia and the College of Commissioners (8 January). Then a bilateral meeting between the president of the Commission and the prime minister of Latvia will take place after the working lunch followed by a series of cluster meetings with key Latvian ministers: Minister of Finance Reirs, Minister of Transport Anrijs Matīss, Minister of Agriculture Janis Dūklavs, Minister of Justice Dzintars Rasnačs, Minister of Health Guntis Belēvičs, Minister of Culture Dace Melbārde, Minister of Economics Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Minister of Environment and Regional Cooperation Kaspars Gerhards, Minister of Welfare Uldis Augulis, Minister of Education and Science Marite Seile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs, Minister of Defence Raimonds Vējonis, and Minister of Interior Rihards Kozlovskis.  

The following commissioners will take part in discussions according to the three Latvian priorities:

a) On jobs and growth, including the EU investment package: First Vice-President Timmermans, Vice-President Georgieva, Vice-President Dombrovskis, Commissioner Thyssen, Commissioner Moscovici, Commissioner Hogan, Commissioner Hill, Commissioner Bieńkowska, Commissioner Jourová and Commissioner Navracsics. 

b) On Energy Union and Digital Single Market: Vice-President Ansip, Vice-President Šefčovič, Commissioner Oettinger, Commissioner Arias Cañete, Commissioner Vella, Commissioner Bulc, Commissioner Crețu and Commissioner Vestager.

c) On Neighbourhood and beyond issues: High Representative Vice-President Mogherini, Commissioner Hahn, Commissioner Malmström, Commissioner Mimica, Commissioner Andriukaitis, Commissioner Avramopoulos and Commissioner Stylianides. 

In the evening, there will be a number of speeches by the Latvian President Bērziņš, Prime Minister Straujuma, European Commission President Juncker and European Council President Tusk during the official Presidency opening event at the Latvian National Opera House.

On Friday (9 January) President Juncker together with the High Representative Vice-President Mogherini and the Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma will launch the European Year for Development 2015 in the National Library of Latvia with the participation of European Commissioners and Latvian Ministers.

Reference: European Commission, Press release Kicking off the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU: Juncker Commission travels to Riga, Brussels, 6 January 2015.