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Polish Presidency of the Council: priorities and programme

Polish Presidency of the Council: priorities and programme

Poland is presiding over the Council of the EU during the first six months of 2025. Its team will coordinate the positions from national governments and chair Council formations and technical bodies. The main priority of the Presidency will be security issues, but there will be actions on a “Europe of equality”.

Summary

  • The Presidency commits to continue working on a draft Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment and new equality strategies.
  • The plan of the EPSCO Council includes “Europe of equality, cohesion and inclusion” as a priority, with specific mentions of disability and gender.
  • A Presidency event on persons with disabilities will take place on 28 March.

Europe of Equality

The most relevant Council formation for disability issues is the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council configuration (EPSCO). The EPSCO will focus on three priorities, one of which explicitly addresses the inclusion of persons with disabilities: Europe of equality, cohesion and inclusion.

Explaining this priority, the Presidency says:

Under the Europe of equality, cohesion and inclusion priority the Polish Presidency will pay particular attention to specific vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, economically inactive individuals, the NEET group, migrants and people benefiting from intra-EU mobility.

The Presidency also promises concrete measures that are relevant for disability rights:

  • Continue efforts to adopt the draft Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment;
  • Work on new EU strategies on equality (this could also include the new actions under the European Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities);
  • Reducing mental health risks for children and adolescents (Council Conclusions);
  • Roadmap for Women’s Rights (to be published in March 2025)
  • a Trio Declaration on Gender Equality (to be signed in April 2025);
  • Council conclusions on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action by Member States;
  • Council Conclusions on practical approaches to ensuring inclusive early childhood and school education.

There is a clear focus on gender equality issues, which will allow us to address the intersection of gender and disability.

The Presidency will work on ongoing legislative files such as:

  • AI in the workplace;
  • the “Traineeship Package”;
  • the 2025 review of the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan,
  • Digital Services Act,
  • proposal on European statistics on population and housing, Recommendation on access to affordable high-quality long-term care;
  • European Health Data Space (EHDS), or air passengers’ rights.

We will advocate for the Council to include our Disability Priorities, together with EDF members. We will also actively participate in the Presidency event on disability on 28 March 2025 in Brussels.

Finally, our “Presidency Scorecard” will evaluate the inclusiveness and accessibility of the Presidency.

Notable events

A full list of events during the Presidency can be found on the Presidency website.