Germany ended its six-month rotating presidency of the European Union on Saturday and handed over power to Portugal for the remainder of the year. The symbolic transfer took place in Berlin where German Foreign Mini-ster Frank-Walter Steinmeier passed the baton to his Portuguese counterpart, Luis Amado.
During its presidency Germany got the EU to agree to a 20 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emission by 2020 and prepared the groundwork for a new treaty to overhaul the 27-nation bloc,
increasing political unity and stream-lining decision-making. It also spearheaded an agreement to forge closer economic ties with the United States.
Portugal faces the challenge of getting the revamped EU reform treaty approved, but that is not the only priority on its agenda. Lisbon will also try to refocus EU foreign policy to look southwards, relaunching relations with Africa, intensifying Mediterra-nean dialogue and Middle East peace efforts, and establishing a privileged partnership with Brazil. The Portuguese government has called a conference on July 23 to begin drawing up the final version of the EU treaty so it can be approved in October and ratified by member states in time for elections to the European parliament in mid-2009.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner extended his country’s warm thanks to Germany for its performance at the helm of the EU during the past half-year . The groundwork carried out by Germany made it possible to define the elements of a future treaty for the European Union, Kouchner said in a statement released in Paris.