On the occasion of the first Maltese EU Council Presidency starting on January 1st 2017, TEPSA held its traditional Pre-Presidency Conference in Valletta on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 November 2016. The Conference, organised in cooperation with and hosted by the Institute for European Studies of the University of Malta, was part of the long-standing tradition of TEPSA’s Pre-Presidency Conferences (PPCs), which take place twice a year in the capital of the country holding the EU Council Presidency prior to the beginning of its mandate.
The PPC brought together academics and researchers from the broad TEPSA network, policy-makers, media and civil society in order to discuss the agenda and challenges of the upcoming Council Presidency. Prior to the event recommendations had been prepared by the following members of the TEPSA network: Iain Begg (LSE, London), Michele Chang (TEPSA Board, College of Europe, Bruges), Brendan Donnelly (Federal Trust, London), Andres Kasekamp (EVI, Tallinn), Lucia Mokrá (TEPSA Board, IESIR, Bratislava) and Mark Rhinard (UI, Stockholm). They do not necessarily represent the view of TEPSA or its member institutes.
The newly elected TEPSA Board Member, Michele Chang, presented the recommendations to Hon Dr Ian Borg, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto responsible for the EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds. Prior to the conference the recommendations had been presented to the Hon Louis Grech MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto.