Ireland will assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the eighth time, from 1 July to 31 December 2026. The Irish Presidency will take forward an ambitious agenda, focused on the core themes of competitiveness, values and security.
The objective of this first tripartite is to accelerate the deployment of storage in the short term, which will make the electricity system more secure and flexible. The launch of this tripartite agreement marks another important step towards delivering a decarbonised system that is more efficient and able to deliver cheaper energy.
The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Sanofi has breached EU competition rules by carrying out a communication campaign that disparages the only rival flu vaccine recommended for vulnerable patients with risk factors.
This year's report reveals an 11% increase in the overall number of notifications (10,490) in 2025 compared to the previous year. Notifications on food safety risks, via the Commission's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, rose by 2% last year, reaching 5,344. This increase shows the vigilance of EU control authorities in detecting food and feed safety issues and the added value of coordination at the EU level.
The latest EU agri-food trade report published by the European Commission shows that, in the first four months of 2026, the EU agri-food trade surplus reached €15.6 billion, which is €233 million higher than the same period in 2025. The UK remained the top export destination. Exports to Egypt surged by 49%, driven by wheat. Exports to Ukraine also grew by 7%, with the largest increase in spirits. However, trade disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz led to a 25% drop in exports to the United Arab Emirates.
The EU has published updated rules on foreign investment screening, strengthening its ability to identify and collectively address risks stemming from foreign investments to the Union's security and public order. The updated framework will enhance the protection of critical sectors, assets and technologies while maintaining the EU's general openness to foreign investment.
The European Commission is deploying rescue teams and other emergency assistance to Venezuela after the occurrence of two strong earthquakes which caused numerous casualties on 24 June. So far, eight Member States - Czechia, Spain, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands - are sending assistance through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
At the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026, co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine in Gdańsk, President von der Leyen reaffirmed that the European Union will continue to stand firmly by Ukraine, supporting its reforms, strengthening its institutions, and helping build a resilient and prosperous future.
The objectives of this proposal are to provide for continued legal certainty, stability and predictability by prolonging temporary protection by one additional year until 4 March 2028, since the need for protection of people fleeing Ukraine remains clear, and to reconcile the protection needs with Ukraine's overall ability to defend itself against Russia's illegal war of aggression.
The European Commission, Europol and the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU have presented a new Europol analysis of the EU’s most threatening criminal networks. While law enforcement action has disrupted criminal networks across the EU, the report shows that the threat from organised crime remains strong, adaptive and deeply embedded across Europe.
Ireland will host the EU Ocean Act Conference in Wexford on 7-8 July 2026 at which delegates will meet and discuss the draft European Ocean Act, a forthcoming EU law, planned for 2027, designed to unify ocean-related policies, strengthen maritime spatial planning, and promote sustainable use of marine resources.
As part of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the College of Commissioners will meet with members of the Irish Government for discussions on a range of EU policy matters. The visit will provide an opportunity for strategic engagement between the European Commission and the Irish Presidency at the outset of the Presidency term. Discussions will focus on key EU policy areas linked to the priorities of the Presidency and will conclude with a plenary session chaired by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin TD, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The European Commission has published a staff working document presenting the results of its evaluation of the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation and its Supplementary Guidelines. Together, these rules safeguard effective competition in motor vehicle aftermarkets, notably between independent repairers and authorised networks, supporting consumer choice and competitive prices.
The Commission has informed Amazon and Microsoft of its preliminary view that they should be designated as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), for their cloud computing services, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure (Azure) respectively, as they are an important gateway between businesses and their customers in the EU. This is the case despite them not meeting the DMA's quantitative thresholds for designation.
On 25 June at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, President Ursula von der Leyen announced the disbursement of €3.2 billion to Ukraine as the first instalment of the new macro-financial assistance (MFA). The MFA is a segment of the Ukraine Support Loan, under which €90 billion are expected to be made available to Ukraine in 2026 and 2027, covering both budget support and defence-related needs.
Agenda available via the link.
Agenda available via the link.
The agreement delivers on the EU's commitment under the Single Market Strategy to simplify rules and deepen the Single Market by reducing administrative burdens for businesses providing services across borders, while maintaining strong protections for posted workers.
Once formally adopted, the strengthened Directive can avert around 1,700 cases of lung cancer and 19,000 work-related illnesses over the next 40 years, while generating up to €1.16 billion in healthcare savings across the EU.
With the entry into force of the agreement, the health authorities and the wider health community from the Republic of North Macedonia will be able to fully benefit from EU funding opportunities under the EU4Health programme to build stronger, more resilient and more accessible health systems, on an equal footing with EU Member States, Norway, Iceland, Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia.
