Ahead of Ireland taking on the rotating presidency of the Council of EU, it is a great pleasure to invite you to join us for the Irish Pre-Presidency Conference, Gateway to the Irish Presidency: Leadership in a Changing Europe. This conference will take place on Thursday 11 June and Friday 12 June 2026 in person at the IIEA, 8 North Great George’s Street, Dublin 1 and online via the Zoom platform.

This conference is co-organised by the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) and the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA). The event is co-funded by the European Union via TEPSA’s ExpressEU project and part of the IIEA’s Future Proofing Europe project, which is supported by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

We expect this event to reach capacity for in-person attendees and so recommend that you register your interest as soon as possible. We will be operating a waitlist once capacity is reached. We ask that you let us know if you are no longer able to attend so that we can make your place available to someone else on this list.

To discuss the aims and priorities of the incoming Irish Presidency, as well as the EU’s most challenging policy areas, the Irish Pre-Presidency Conference, Gateway to the Irish Presidency: Leadership in a Changing Europe, will take place on 11 and 12 June 2026 in Dublin.

Ireland will take over the EU Council Presidency from Cyprus at a time of deep geopolitical uncertainty. War in Ukraine and the Middle East, a deteriorating relationship with the United States, a highly volatile global economy and growing political polarisation will heavily mark the Irish Presidency’s agenda. Dublin will influence the path towards a more robust European security and defence set-up, as well as the ongoing discussions on the future EU budget.

Faced with external and internal pressures, the EU is in need of a strategic direction towards competitiveness and resilience. The Irish Presidency has a unique opportunity to guide Europe through delicate and uncertain times.

The conference will feature exchanges between researchers, policymakers, civil society representatives, journalists and members of the public.

The conference will focus on several key topics for the Irish presidency, including enlargement, competitiveness, digital policy, geopolitics, democracy, rule of law, and security and defence.

TEPSA will also present the Recommendations to the incoming Presidency. These recommendations form part of a long history of interaction between TEPSA and the Council presidencies. The Recommendations will soon be published here.

To view the conference programme, please click here.

Please note that by registering, you consent to your information being shared with co-organisers TEPSA and to receiving a short survey from TEPSA after the conference.