Slovakia is a country in eastern central Europe and is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The Carpathian Mountains extend across the northern half of the country and include the High Tatras, which provide a natural watershed between Slovakia and Poland. In the southern half of the country are the lowlands of the Danube plain.
Slovakia in the EU
European Parliament
There are 13 members of the European Parliament from Slovakia.(European Parliament office in Slovakia)
Council of the EU
In the Council of the EU, national ministers meet regularly to adopt EU laws and coordinate policies. Council meetings are regularly attended by representatives from the Slovakian government, depending on the policy area being addressed.
Presidency of the Council of the EU
The Council of the EU doesn’t have a permanent, single-person president (like e.g. the Commission or Parliament). Instead, its work is led by the country holding the Council presidency, which rotates every 6 months.
During these 6 months, ministers from that country’s government chair and help determine the agenda of Council meetings in each policy area, and facilitate dialogue with the other EU institutions.
Dates of Slovakian presidencies:
Jul-Dec 2016 (More on the current presidency of the Council of the EU)
The complete speech from the new Presidency of the Council of the EU:
After 12 years of EU membership Slovakia is honored to lead the Union. The EU is our home, the euro our currency and Schengen our area. The Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU is the culmination of our integration journey.
Yet our Presidency also includes responsibility as the EU struggles with many unprecedented internal and external challenges. Slovakia is assuming its Presidency role in very challenging times.
In the past couple of years, the Union has faced a number of serious crises. They have undoubtedly impacted its overall shape but also formed moods of EU population. We regret that people of the United Kingdom decided to leave the European project. It demonstrates that the trust of EU citizens in the EU has been significantly undermined. We must very carefully tackle this issue.
We believe that the EU is the best solution for Europe and its citizens. However, it is essential that the Union regains trust of citizens and focus on solutions which will bring a long-term perspective to the European project. Therefore the Slovak Presidency intends to build upon the positive experience and focus on the positive agenda which will decrease existing barriers among the Member States.
The Slovak Presidency strives to be:
Pragmatic – we need to deliver tangible results which will bring direct benefits for daily lives of citizens.
Overcoming fragmentation –The Presidency is ready to contribute to connecting Member States more closely in the area of Single Market. We must search for solutions acceptable for all Member States and beneficial for the Union as a whole.
Focusing on people – we will focus on the needs of citizens because they must be the centre of our attention.In order to achieve these three goals, we have decided to focus on four principal priorities:
- to make European economy stronger
- to modernize and broaden the Single Market in areas such as energy and the digital economy
- to work towards sustainable migration and asylum policy and
- to contribute to the global engagement of Europe
1/ First priority of the Slovak Presidency is to put emphasis on the economically strong Europe – Europe based on investments which contribute to economic growth and the creation of new jobs. Promoting an economy in which small and medium-sized enterprises can flourish is a prerequisite for the stability and the sustainability of public finances.
We are ready to continue the efforts the Capital Markets Union and move on with key legislative initiatives. A true single market for capital would unlock new sources of cross-border funding. It would make life easier for businesses heavily dependent on the banking sector.
We will also deal with the mid-term review of the Multi annual Financial Framework and the EU Budget 2017. We are aware that the EU budget, as our main investment tool, must reflect the Union’s priorities and have the necessary capacity to handle unexpected challenges.
Furthermore, we will work on the deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union. The sooner we close remaining gabs, the better for all. Only then we will finally secure stability, prosperity and full credibility of the Euro zone.
2/ The second priority basket is to boost the potential and modernize Single Market. Surely, the Single Market is a success story. Yet we believe that it needs to be enriched by two new pillars – the Digital Single Market and the Energy Union.
Digitalization and e-commerce open up a completely new pool of opportunities. However, the market potential is still untapped. The Slovak Presidency will diligently work on its effective implementation of a Digital Single Market package. Removing the barriers of data portability, geographic blocking and international roaming will be our focus.
Our other ambition is to significantly contribute to building a reliable and competitive Energy Union, because security of supply plays an important role in achieving energy resilience for Europe. Strengthened internal energy security, improved regional cooperation and reinforced solidarity are the essential tools to reduce energy dependence of Europe.
Promoting sustainable growth also requires a significant improvement of natural resources governance. Therefore we will support measures directed towards the circular economy. Circular economy is essential to reduce waste production and protect the environment, but also to transform how the economy functions, from production and consumption to waste management and the secondary materials market.
3/ A sustainable migration and asylum policy is the third of our Presidency priorities. Even though migration represents a long-term historic phenomenon, Europe has been dealing with unprecedented migration flows only since last year. They put immense pressure on EU´s external borders as well as the asylum systems of Member States. We can resolve it only through joint EU wide efforts.
Europe must be moved away from crisis management. During our Presidency, we will promote comprehensive solutions linking up all relevant internal and external aspects. We must return to a proper functioning of the Schengen area. In this respect, it is essential to make the European Border and Coast Guards operational.
Furthermore, the effective cooperation with third countries of origin and transit also needs to be established. The EU-Turkey agreement remains one of its crucial parts. Besides that, we will also tackle the issue of legal migration. For example, by attracting highly qualified migrants wherever they are needed for our growing economies. Our Presidency will also put a lot of effort into the smart borders package.
4/ We all see significant changes in the geopolitical reality. These changes have made increased global commitment within the EU an indispensable element in promoting peace and stability. Therefore our Presidency strives to contribute to global engagement of Europe.
Free trade is a significant contributor to internal and external stability of the EU. Slovakia is an open economy supportive of soundly negotiated free trade agreements.
TTIP is a major opportunity for the EU. We stand ready to support the EU Commission to reach an ambitious, comprehensive and balanced agreement. We should take seriously the critical voices and have an open discussion about the consequences. The final text must safeguard the high level of EU standards.
The new European global strategy for common foreign and security policy should become our tool to co-shape rapidly changing world. Our key objectives are protection of international order, strengthening security and facilitating peaceful and durable solutions to crises.
At the same time, we will remain a vocal advocate of more effective and preventive European Neighbourhood Policy. To the East, we wish to make strong emphasis on stabilization and reform processes. To the South, we would like to focus inter alia on countries contributing to migration flow to Europe.
Given our own experience, the enlargement policy is one of the most effective transformation tools. It is thus a key instrument for stabilizing our neighborhood. Therefore our Presidency will seek to maintain the momentum of the accession process.
These four priorities of the Presidency are a reflection of our complex ambition to increase the resilience of the EU to external and internal challenges and to restore citizens’ confidence in the European project. Our mission is to achieve such solutions as are truly acceptable to all Member States and beneficial to the EU as a whole.