State Secretary Olivier Chastel has presented the programme for the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union to the Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees (COSAC). The COSAC is a cooperation that brings committees of the national parliaments dealing with European affairs together with the European Parliament representatives and it will be celebrated in the capital city of the country that holds the EU presidency.

They are concentrated on 6 main priorities for Europe:

• The first concerns the way out of the crisis and the return to economic growth. The Belgian Presidency will pay particular attention to the legislative initiatives that aim to strengthen the supervision of the financial sector. Next to this the establishment of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and the European System of Financial Supervisors (ESFS), that must control the banking sector, the insurance sector and the financial sector via three supervisors, is very urgent. The proposal for a directive regarding investment fund managers, to regulate the so-called hedge funds, is also urgent.
• The second priority of the Belgian programme concerns the promotion of social progress and combating poverty and social exclusion. The Belgian Presidency will be the first presidency to implement the revamped European employment strategy in the framework of the objectives set by the EU 2020 strategy for employment and growth.
• The third priority for Belgium concerns the re-opening of negotiations concerning the climate and environment, and so also the preparation for the Conferences in Cancun and Nagoya, after the Conference of Copenhagen in December 2009.
• The fourth Belgian priority is the deepening of the area of freedom, security and justice, even more after the approval of Stockhom Programme. Mores specifically, priority will be given, in the field of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, to the recognition of judicial decisions taken by the member states. They will also advance the activities concerning the protection of victims and the directive on trafficking in human beings”.
• The fifth priority concerns the global influence of the Union and the efficiency of its external actions, also with regard to the expansion and the creation of a European External Action Service . Their objective is the improvement of the efficiency of the Union’s external actions.

The Belgian Presidency hopes to satisfy the expectations that have been set according to State Secretary Olivier Chastel. It takes the torch of the six months of Spanish presidency, and it will be the second country oin leading the EU under the new institutional environment.