On 9-10 January, European Council President Charles Michel together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the new College of Commissioners – including Renew Europe Commissioners Margrethe Vestager, Vĕra Jourová, Didier Reynders, Kadri Simson, Janez Lenarčič and Thierry Breton – were in Zagreb, Croatia to mark the beginning of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

In its 6-month presidency, Croatia – the youngest member state of the European Union – will focus on driving “a strong Europe in a world of challenges”, with a focus on positioning Europe as a global leader as well as on sustainable development, security and a networked economy. The full programme of the Presidency is available in English here.

At the kick-off event, EUCO President Charles Michel highlighted the importance of the next European budget in order to face the upcoming challenges, the need for stability and security in the neighbourhood and the role of the EU at external level.

“We are a union with more than five hundred million citizens. We are an economic power, a strong economic power, and I'm convinced, at the international level, that we have to promote more our values, to promote more and to defend more our interests”, Michel said in his speech.

https://twitter.com/EU_Commission/status/1215552561991901184?s=20

https://twitter.com/CroatiaInEU/status/1209466391918759938?s=20