Portugal will be heading the EU Parliament from 1 January
Portugal will be heading the presidency of the European Union (EU) Council from 1 January 2021 until 30 June 2021. Rua Augusta Arch in the capital city Lisbon was illuminated in blue with yellow stars for this occasion.
The EU presidency is rotating every six month. which means the European Union is lead by one of the member states for six month. The last presidency until 31 December 2020 was held by Germany. The country following the presidency of Portugal will be Slovenia who will then head from 1 July 2021.
The EU council is formed by the heads of state of the 27 EU member countries. During the presidency, Portugal will now head the meetings of the Council.
The motto of Portugal’s presidency will be: “Time to deliver: a fair, green and digital recovery.”
The system of rotating the presidency of a country is important for all member countries to share their views, heritage and values. Every presidency hosts a vast cultural programme highlighting the visual arts, films, dance and theatre productions, musical concerts of the respective country. Portugal’s will present the fado, which is a typical Portuguese way of singing that is both very expressive and also melancholic, in the first musical event of the presidency.
Portugal is a country in Southern Europe bordering the North Atlantic Ocean. and Spain. About 11 million people live in Portugal. The national language is Portuguese which is spoken by about 220 million native speakers around the world. Read more about Portugal here
Source: https://www.2021portugal.eu/en/
Image: MintImages/shutterstock.com