Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2021

Portugal holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) in the first half of 2021. This presidency is held on a rotating basis by Member States for six-month periods, chairing meetings at all levels within the Council and ensuring the continuity of the EU's work.

As defined by the Treaty of Lisbon, the three Member States holding the Presidency consecutively (the past, present, and future) must work closely together through so-called "trios" and prepare a common agenda setting out the topics and main issues that the Council will address over an 18-month period. The current trio consists of the presidencies of Germany, Portugal, and Slovenia, which began on July 1, 2020, with the German presidency, followed by the Portuguese presidency on January 1, 2021, and ending on December 31, 2021, with the Slovenian presidency. This group has drawn up its joint program, which complements the more detailed six-month program prepared by each Member State for its presidency.

The national priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union 2021 (PPUE21), which are part of the trio's program, are as follows: a Resilient Europe, a Social Europe, a Green Europe, a Digital Europe, and a Global Europe.

For Research and Innovation (R&I), PPUE21 intends to act at various levels:

• Strengthen R&I in Europe by coordinating efforts and synergies in European scientific communities within the European Research Area (ERA), which are essential for a common approach to global challenges (e.g., COVID-19), for strengthening European R&I systems, and for promoting more investment in research and development (R&D);
• Revitalize the goal of reaching 3% of GDP by 2030 in investment in research (two-thirds private sector, one-third public sector);
• Promote the launch of the Horizon Europe Program, scheduled for February 2021 in Lisbon, and finalize the regulations necessary for the creation of European Partnerships and the launch of the planned Missions;
• Encourage the continuation of joint initiatives within the framework of the new European Research Area (ERA), particularly in the areas of green hydrogen (from renewable energy sources), artificial intelligence in the public domain, and green supercomputing;
• Contribute to broader and more diverse access to science and research, enabling citizens to acquire skills (“citizen science”);
• Launch the debate on the professionalization of research careers, with their inclusion in the European Reference Framework, with a view to interconnection, mobility, and the revision of evaluation systems, in order to improve working and salary conditions and reduce precariousness, promoting a balanced circulation of talent within and outside Europe;
• Highlight EU-Africa cooperation in R&I in the fields of space and higher education, with an emphasis on institutional capacity building and with a view to preventing brain drain.

The FCT will monitor and participate in the work of PPUE21 in two main areas: (i) technical monitoring of the work of the Council, in particular the Council's Research Working Party, in support of the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the European Union (REPER), and (ii) co-organization of events planned to be hosted under PPUE21. See the page on events and initiatives carried out by PPUE21 in the area of Research and Innovation (R&I) here.

With regard to the Council's work, it is expected that it will focus on the discussion of various legislative and non-legislative dossiers:

• Horizon Europe (HEU) Regulation and Specific Program
• Regulations and Strategic Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)
• Euratom and ITER programs (expected to be finalized by the European Union's Permanent Representatives Committee, with the adoption process still pending)
• ECSC Coal and Steel Research Fund (continuation of discussions)
• European High Performance Computing (EuroHPC)
• Single legal basis for institutionalized European partnerships (Article 187 TFEU) and the Metrology partnership (Article 185 TFEU), subject to the presentation of legislative packages.
• Council conclusions on the European Research Area (ERA), with a focus on research careers
• Debate on Missions, following the European Commission Communication expected to be launched very shortly

Events in the field of science and technology under the auspices of PPUE21 will be held in compliance with the restrictions in force and will be monitored by FCT, in close coordination with the PPUE21 Mission Structure, the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education (MCTES), and other public and private entities. The list of events will be available shortly.

See the detailed program here. More information about PPUE21 here.