On 1 July, the Czech Republic took over the rotating EU presidency from France. Over the next six months, the new presidency is committed to making climate and the environment the driving forces of its mandate. Priorities have been set and include advancing negotiations on environmental legislations such as the European Biodiversity Strategy 2030 or the Nature Restoration Law.
A series of hearings were held for the Presidency to provide details of its work programme. Despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Czech Republic has pledged not to reduce the EU's ambitions on
environmental preservation.
Some of the priorities of the Czech Presidency will be to strengthen the sustainability of agriculture, especially in the field of livestock,
fisheries, food systems, forest management, agricultural and food supply. More specifically,
biodiversity conservation and
nature restoration have been set as a top priority for the second half of 2022.
In addition, the priorities will also be to reach an agreement on
fishing quotas for 2023. On that matter, the Czech Republic is counting on the fact that it is a landlocked state to take an even-handed approach in the negotiations. Finally, its objectives will also be to reach agreements on the EU's
fishing opportunities for shared stocks with third countries, as well as on
fisheries initiatives related to the Green Deal.
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