As of 1st July 2017, Malta will hand over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union to Estonia, that will be chairing it for the following six months.

The Estonian Presidency will be focusing on four key priorities:

An open and innovative European economy

An open and innovative European economy means developing a business environment, which supports knowledge-based growth and competitiveness.

The Estonian Presidency will be focusing on four key priorities:

• For this purpose, the Estonian Presidency will focus on:
• Protecting and promoting the EU’s four freedoms – free movement of goods, persons, services and capital
• Making sure that providing services and starting a business in the EU is as easy as possible, and advancing trade negotiations
• Creating new funding opportunities for companies and ensuring a stable banking sector
• Establishing a stable and well-functioning electricity market and empowering consumers
• Ensuring fair competition by preventing tax evasion

A safe and secure Europe

Only by acting together and preserving its unity on the global stage can the EU keep its citizens safe and promote peace, prosperity and stability.

For this purpose, the Estonian Presidency will focus on:

• Strengthening the fight against terrorism and organised crime, strengthening the internal security as well as the protection of the EU’s external borders by improving cooperation and using Cutting-edge information systems
• Continuing the work tackling the migration crisis and reforming the Common European Asylum System
• Supporting and strengthening relations with Eastern partnership countries
• An increase in defence expenditure, developing European defence cooperation and the EU-NATO partnership

 A digital Europe and the free movement of data

Europe must exploit the benefits of technological progress that is bringing continuous change to citizens, businesses and governments.

For this purpose, the Presidency will focus on:

• Developing cross-border e-commerce and e-services for the benefit of consumers, producers and businesses
• Ensuring modern and secure electronic communications available everywhere across Europe as well as creating a favourable environment for new innovative services
• Advancing cross-border digital public services to facilitate everyday life

 An inclusive and sustainable Europe

An inclusive and sustainable Europe supports equal opportunities for high-quality education, employment, access to services and development of skills. A sustainable Europe cares about and is committed to achieving a cleaner environment.

For this purpose, Estonia will focus on:

• Modernising rules in order to promote labour mobility and free movement of persons
• Ensuring equal opportunities in the labour market and social inclusion
• Securing a more sustainable environment