EU Presidency: Malta to cover its six months, Estonia to follow

The European Council has agreed to move forward the member states’ presidency of the Council of the EU by half a year, in order to fill in the slot vacated by the United Kingdom.

This means that Malta, scheduled to take over in January, will stick to its six-month presidency while Estonia takes over in July. Estonia was scheduled for January 2018 but, following the United Kingdom’s decision to pull out, will be brought in earlier.

It is understood that Bulgaria may follow Estonia.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that Britain should skip its turn in the light of the Brexit vote in June's referendum.

According to the British media, May told European Council President Donald Tusk it was "the right thing to do given we will be very busy with negotiations to leave the EU".

Yesterday, in a meeting of the ambassadors to the EU in Brussels, it was decided that the best solution would be for everyone to move forward by half a year, finally laying to rest speculation that Malta may need to extend its Presidency. The Maltese government had already warned the EU that its resources would be at a stretch, although it had voiced its willingness to share the UK’s six months with Estonia, had the need arisen.