The staff at Ireland's Permanent Representation in Brussels has almost doubled to 160 for the presidency and the Permanent Representative, Ms Anne Anderson, has told her officials that there will be no holidays and very little free time for the next six months.
Although many of the Permanent Representation staff are diplomats from the Department of Foreign Affairs, most are from other Government departments, all of which have officials in Brussels apart from the Department of the Taoiseach.
Ms Anderson is one of three ambassadors representing Ireland in the EU - the others are the Deputy Permanent Representative, Mr Peter Gunning and the representative to the Political and Security Committee, Mr Declan Kelleher.
During the Presidency, Irish officials will chair the dozens of working groups that agree about 70 per cent of EU legislation and will represent the EU's member-states in consultations with the Commission and the European Parliament. A further 15 per cent of legislation is agreed at the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) leaving just 15 per cent for discussion by ministers when they meet in Brussels.
One of the most powerful bodies in the EU, COREPER is divided into two configurations - COREPER I, consisting of the deputy permanent representatives and COREPER II where the permanent representatives meet. Both meet at least once a week. COREPER I has a formidable workload including agriculture, fisheries, the internal market, industry, transport, the environment and health. COREPER II deals with high policy issues such as external relations, Justice and Home Affairs and economic and financial issues.
The Political and Security Committee runs the day-to-day business of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy and co-ordinates the EU's crisis management and conflict prevention activities.
During the next six months, the staff at Ireland's Permanent Representation will be responsible, along with Dublin-based officials, for shaping compromises within the working groups and committees that agree 85 per cent of the EU's legislation and advising ministers on the prospects for agreement on remaining issues. They will also have to ensure that unexpected events do not derail the presidency's legislative programme.
Ms Anderson, who is the first woman from any European country to serve as a permanent representative to the EU, defines a successful presidency as one which works efficiently, achieves its legislative goals, responds quickly to events and leaves Ireland's reputation in Europe enhanced.
