Those readers who had the misfortune to live through two referenda on the Lisbon Treaty (thank god in hindsight we voted yes the second time, or else it would have been THREE referenda) will remember that one of the fundamental rules of the EU is that the Presidency of the Council of Ministers is rotated every six months between the member countries. With 27 member states, that means that Ireland gets a go once every thirteen and a half years. Ireland is next due it’s go in the big chair, if you’re wondering, in the second half of 2026.
In the meantime, the EU has a more pressing problem – or at least something that many Europhiles seem to consider a pressing problem. Next year, in the second half of 2024, the EU Presidency is due to be occupied by Hungary, which is a cause in Europe of much wailing, and rending of garments. Witness the concern expressed in Politico Europe last month by Alberto Alemanno, one of the bloc’s taxpayer funded Jean Monet professors of politics, who tend to function – unsurprisingly – as the intellectual vanguard of further European integration:
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