Von der Leyen: Ireland's presidency to accelerate EU's trade agreements

Ireland's presidency of the Council of the EU will help speed up the implementation of trade agreements with trusted partners, deepen the single market, and remove barriers for European businesses in order to strengthen the bloc's economic competitiveness, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said.

According to Report's European bureau, speaking at a press conference in Cork following a meeting between the College of Commissioners and the Irish government marking the start of Ireland's EU Council presidency, Von der Leyen stressed that Europe must move faster "from research to scaling up" innovation and create better conditions for high-tech companies to grow.

"Beyond our borders, we must continue to diversify. The Irish presidency will play a central role in bringing into force, as quickly as possible, agreements with India and Mexico so that Europe can expand trade with reliable partners, increase exports, and at the same time reduce dependence on individual suppliers," she said.

She added that within the EU, the priority will be implementing the roadmap "One Europe – One Market," aimed at developing industrial capacity, supporting the green and digital transitions, and completing key reforms by the end of 2027.

Von der Leyen also said the European Commission will present a new energy package in July, including measures to accelerate the electrification of the economy and revise the emissions trading system (ETS). At the same time, Brussels will continue work on strengthening the EU"s technological sovereignty, ranging from semiconductors and artificial intelligence to cloud infrastructure and large language models.

She further called for faster progress on reducing administrative burdens on businesses, creating a unified framework for innovative companies (EU Inc.), and advancing the Savings and Investment Union to overcome fragmentation in European capital markets and improve startups" access to funding.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the presidency will focus on three main priorities: competitiveness, values, and security. He noted that Dublin will prioritize cutting regulatory and administrative barriers, deepening the single market, expanding international trade, accelerating decarbonization while keeping energy prices affordable, and advancing digital transformation and artificial intelligence technologies.

Martin added that the "One Europe, One Market" roadmap sets out practical steps to improve productivity and competitiveness in the EU economy, expressing Ireland"s readiness to work closely with the European Commission during its six-month presidency.