Shaping Europe’s Future: the Business Ambition for Ireland’s 2026 EU Presidency
As we approach the midpoint of the EU’s 2024-2029 institutional cycle, the geopolitical and economic landscape continues to shift with unprecedented speed. For the eighth time and the first time since 2013, Ireland is preparing to take the helm of the Council of the European Union from July to December 2026.
This is a pivotal leadership opportunity for Ireland to influence the EU agenda and strengthen its role into the future through driving discussions on key legislation and policy. Ibec recognises this leadership opportunity, and during Ireland’s EU Presidency, will champion a European approach that makes resilience the foundation of competitiveness, an outward-looking, confident, and investment-ready Europe that delivers stability and opportunity for business and citizens alike.
Understanding the Presidency: the ‘honest broker’
The Presidency of the Council of the EU is a unique mechanism where a Member State chairs meetings at every level from technical working groups to ministerial councils. Acting as a neutral ‘honest broker’, Ireland will be responsible for driving consensus on complex legislation and representing the Council in negotiations with the European Commission and Parliament.
This role grants Ireland a greater ability to influence the EU’s policy direction than at any time since our last Presidency in 2013. It is a window to ensure that the needs of both small and large Member States are met while strengthening the EU’s global standing.
The Business Mandate: why the Presidency matters
For Irish business, the stakes could not be higher. We are operating in a decade defined by disruption from war on Europe’s borders to energy pressures and growing geopolitical fragmentation. To thrive, the EU must think in systems: open markets, secure supply chains and adaptive regulation. Ibec’s campaign, Making a Resilient, Competitive EU a Reality: The business ambition for Ireland’s EU Presidency is built upon extensive consultation with member companies and sectors to ensure the Irish Presidency prioritises transforming high-level ambition into tangible actions. Our campaign identifies six core pillars where Irish leadership can deliver maximum impact:
- Trade & Investment: As an outward-looking economy, Ireland must champion an open, rules-based international trading system to continue to attract investment and strengthen resilience. Any ‘European preference’ criteria must be considered on a case-by-case basis, limited and removed when the specific criteria to promote European interests has been achieved.
- Single Market & Simplification: The Single Market remains incomplete, delivering well below its potential. We are calling for deepening the Single Market, driving the Omnibus packages towards regulatory simplification and reducing the administrative burden on businesses, and unlocking capital via the completion of the Savings and Investment Union (SIU).
- Enterprise & Economy: Europe must bridge the productivity gap. This requires streamlining permitting processes for critical infrastructure, ensuring that State Aid rules support strategic investment without fragmenting the Single Market, and leveraging public procurement to promote and develop European competitiveness.
- Labour Market & Social Policy: A competitive Europe is the prerequisite for a prosperous social Europe. Policy must respect the principles of subsidiarity and the diversity of national industrial relations systems while focusing on upskilling and retraining.
- Digital & AI: To maintain a competitive edge, the EU must simplify its digital rulebook and invest in foundational infrastructure. We advocate for a framework that enables the adoption of AI and key technologies while safeguarding trusted international data flows.
- Security & Defence: Resilience is an essential foundation for long-term competitiveness and sustainability. We believe resilience must encompass the protection of critical infrastructure from subsea cables to energy grids as a direct material issue for business performance.
As the Government finalises its Presidency Programme, Ibec is actively working to ensure these business priorities are embedded at the heart of the national agenda. We are collaborating with our sectoral trade associations, European partners and stakeholders in Brussels to ensure coherence in our messaging.
The Irish Presidency can ensure that the next policy cycle is defined not by reaction to crises, but by the confidence to anticipate, adapt and lead. The vision of Irish business for a successful EU Presidency is one that drives forward an EU that is more competitive, resilient, innovative, simplified, focused, ambitious.
By Róisín De Bhaldraithe, EU Policy Executive, Ibec.
