Results achieved by the Slovak Presidency to date

During the first month of the Slovak Presidency i, more than 50 political and expert meetings were organised, about two thirds of which took place in Slovakia. Bratislava was visited by almost 1 600 delegates from 45 countries and around 300 journalists from more than 20 countries.

In its first month, the Slovak Presidency recorded two major achievements at Council of the i EU meetings in Brussels: agreement of the member states on next year’s EU budget, and the opening of two chapters in the accession negotiations with Serbia.

Budget and Serbia

The member states agreed on a Presidency compromise proposal on next year’s EU budget in record time - just 18 days after the Commission submitted its proposal. The Slovak Presidency’s chief negotiator on the EU budget, Vazil Hudák, said that the proposal offers "the appropriate means to stimulate growth, help creating jobs, reinforce security inside and outside the EU and tackle the migration crisis". In autumn, the Slovak Presidency will start to negotiate the draft budget with the European Parliament i.

For more behind-the-scenes information about the budget negotiations, see our newsletter (Slovak only)

For more information about the draft budget, click here

Another important achievement by the Slovak Presidency is the opening of two negotiating chapters in the accession negotiations with Serbia. One of the Presidency's priorities is to strengthen the credibility of the enlargement process. During the intergovernmental conference led by the Slovak Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Miroslav Lajčák, the EU opened two important and challenging chapters. The first of those chapters covers the judiciary and fundamental rights, while the second focuses on justice, freedom and security.

For more information, click here

Bratislava Declaration on Young Researchers

After an informal meeting of the ministers responsible for competitiveness, the Bratislava Declaration of Young Researchers was officially presented in Bratislava. In November, the declaration will be submitted for discussion by the Council of the EU in Brussels. The declaration presents a summary of ambitions, problems and solutions in the field of research at all levels - from secondary schools to postgraduate posts. For example, it proposes introducing individual grants for researchers on the basis of their ideas for innovation, and talks of the possibility of mobility between the private and public sectors.

To read an interview with one of the declaration’s authors, the researcher Emília Petríková, click here (Slovak only)

For more information about the negotiations, click here