Slovakia took over the EU Council’s Presidency for six months from the Netherlands as of 1 July 2016.The Programme of the Slovak EU Presidency focuses on four main priorities, which are the followings: An economically strong Europe, a modern single market, a sustainable migration and asylum policies and a globally engaged Europe.

For an economically strong Europe, during its EU Presidency, the Slovak government aims to enable an environment for investments so as to support EU’s sustainable economic growth and to contribute in the creation of new job opportunities within the EU. Slovakia will also pursue with the implementation of structural reforms and the establishment of Capital Markets Union. Discussions over the 2017 budget of the EU will also constitute an important item of the economic agenda of the Slovak EU Presidency.

Despite the success story of the Single Market, it can be observed that some obstacles are still obstructing the good functioning of the Single Market. In this respect, Slovak EU Presidency will take measures to further strengthen and deepen the Single Market integration. For instance, as regards to the Single Digital Market, the Slovak EU Presidency will focus in removing the obstacles in digital economy, the promotion of electronic services, facilitating the market access as well as reinforcing the protection of consumers. One of the other priorities of the Slovak EU Presidency regarding the Single Market is the establishment of Energy Union through which the EU wants to increase the security of the energy supply in the EU.

Regarding the migration issue which is  one of the most important topics currently both for Turkey and the EU, the Slovak EU Presidency wants to reinforce the security and the protection of EU’s external borders.  Within this framework, Slovak EU Presidency will prioritize the implementation of the Smart Border Package aiming to fight against irregular migration and to accelerate and simplify the entry procedures with the use of new emerging and modern technologies.

Lastly, the Slovak EU Presidency aims also to reinforce the global role of the EU. In this respect, the Slovak government will purse efforts to strengthen the economic and trade relations with key partners will continue. The Slovak EU Presidency will continue also to lead policies promoting stability, prosperity and democracy in the neighbourhood.

Holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU for the first time, Slovakia will assume its Presidency at a very critical and challenging time since it just after the referendum results in Britain. The success of the Slovak EU Presidency will mostly depend on how it will manage the process regarding the Brexit.