Credit:  auswaertiges-amt.de/en /  The Federal Republic of Germany assumed EU Presidency July 1, 2020.

By Gary Raynaldo       DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Germany took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union Wednesday pledging solidarity and unity for the bloc against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Last in this role in 2007, Germany is now assuming the Presidency of the Council for the 13th time for a period of six months. Germany’s priority is managing the COVID crisis and the bloc’s economic recovery.   Germany’s  economic minister said economic policy would be a central focus of Germany’s six-month EU Presidency.  The Presidency is responsible for pushing ahead with Council deliberations on EU legislation and ensuring continuity in the EU’s agenda, proper conduct of the legislative process and cooperation between member states.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic has hit some countries in the European Union harder than others, its economic and social repercussions are affecting the whole of Europe. We will therefore only succeed in making our way out of the crisis by pulling together. Germany wants to be a driving force and facilitator during its Presidency of the Council of the EU. Our task will be to build bridges and find solutions that ultimately benefit everyone in Europe. The unity and solidarity we in Europe show internally need to be matched by our ability to act and our sovereignty abroad. We do not want to be dictated to, but we want to pursue our own path and shape our geopolitical course.”

-German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

“This is a duty that I am looking forward to immensely, and that the entire German government is looking forward to. Europe needs us, just as we need Europe – not only as a historical legacy, which we were given as a present, but as a project that will lead us into the future.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel

The Chancellor underlined the need to shape Europe. “Europe is an open, dynamic order for peace and liberty, which we can and must keep improving.”

To celebrate the start of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the EU, an animation of the Presidency logo was projected on to the Brandenburg Gate. © dpa / eu,2020.de /

Germany’s EU Programme is rooted in the following:

• overcoming the corona crisis for good
• a stronger and more innovative Europe
• a just Europe
• a sustainable Europe
• a Europe of security and common values
• a strong Europe in the world

SOURCE:  Federal Foreign Office

 “Germany wants to be a driving force and facilitator during its Presidency of the Council of the EU. Our task will be to build bridges and find solutions that ultimately benefit everyone in Europe.”

-German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.