Romania's EU Council presidency agenda: meetings, conferences and events in the country

Throughout the six months that Romania will hold the rotating presidency of the EU Council, tens of events covering all areas of EU policy will take place in Bucharest and throughout the country.

A highlight event, announced by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker since 2017, is the Informal Summit of Heads of State and Government of EU Member States, to be held in Sibiu, on May 9. The summit will be the EU leaders’ first meeting after UK’s departure from the EU and the last one before the EU Parliament election. It is meant as a culmination of a process started in 2017, when Juncker outlined a road-map detailing the main steps towards a more united, stronger and more democratic Union. Afterwards, leaders of EU member states met in Tallinn, Estonia, and agreed on a Leaders' Agenda, a list of the most pressing issues and challenges for which solutions should be found, ahead of the European elections in 2019. In Sibiu, they are expected to renew their commitment to tackling these issues. Thirty-six official delegations, 400 high-level guests and about 800 journalists are expected in Sibiu for the summit. At the same time, until June, Bucharest will host a series of informal ministerial meetings, tackling the issues on EU’s current agenda. A meeting of the Eurogroup, the informal body where the ministers of the euro area member states discuss matters relating to the euro, will also be held. They are scheduled as follows: Informal reunion of the Defense ministers: January 30 - 31, Bucharest Informal meeting of the Foreign Affairs ministers (Gymnich): January 31 – February 1, Bucharest Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will preside over the meeting. The ministers will discuss current topics on the EU and international agenda. The meeting will also include a working session with foreign affairs ministers of EU candidate countries. Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council - Home Affairs Session: February 7, Bucharest Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council - Justice Session: February 8, Bucharest Informal reunion of Trade ministers: February 21 – February 22, Bucharest Informal reunion of the Telecommunication ministers & Ministerial Conference on Eastern Partnership: March 1, Bucharest Informal reunion of EU Affairs ministers: March 11 - 12, Bucharest