Portugal Assumes EU Presidency

Portugal stepped into the "rotating" Presidency of the European Union on July 1. Over the next six months the Portuguese Presidency will focus on EU economic growth; enlargement of the border-free "Schengen area" in Europe; strengthening the EU's role in the world, especially Africa through an active dialogue of policy, trade, aid, and development; continued work in the Balkans on reforms for possible EU membership and efforts to resolve the final status of Kosovo; and the negotiation of a Reform Treaty for the EU on the basis of broad agreements reached under the EU's German Presidency. Read More