Grand Challenges For Sustainable Growth: Irish Presidency Of The Eu Council 2013 In Review

Abstract

The presetation will overview the outcomes of the Irish Presidency of the EU Council for 2013 in addressing grand challenges for sustainable Growth with special emphasis on the digital (IT) agenda for Europe. The Irish Presidency of the EU council for 2013 made great achievements including the agreement of the 7 years EU Budget (including the budget to tackle youth unemploymen, the €70 billions Horizon 2020 program for research and innovation; the €30 billions budget for connecting Europe facility targeting enhancement in transport, energy and telecoms; and the €16 billions budget for the Erasmus programme), the reform of Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and the brokerage of various partnerships and trade agreements (the most important ones are the EU-US agreement of €8 billions, and the EU-Japan agreement). An estimated number of 200 policy commitments were achieved including more than 80 in legislative form. The presentation will put a particular emphasis on the digital agenda for Europe and the horizon for international collaboration to tackle grand challenges for sustainable growth and the application of ICT to address these challenges. A brief overview of key related events held during the Irish Presidency of the EU council will be covered and the announcement of a book launch event elaborating on the topic and content of the presentation will be made.