Closing Interview with the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU

1 – Belgium presided over the Council of the European Union from 1 January to 30 June 2024. We collaborated on a number of joint activities during that time. Do you see this strong collaboration continuing in the future? Do you have specific topics in mind?   

Indeed, we really enjoyed our close collaboration with FAO Brussels during our Presidency. It almost felt as if the FAO colleagues were a part of the Presidency team!  

Although we cannot make any concrete commitments, we surely hope to continue this fruitful collaboration in the future. Especially given the fact that we, like FAO, are based in Brussels as well. It is hard to choose specific topics from FAO’s mandate since they are all so relevant and urgent. However, the event that we jointly organized with Ghent University on Healthy Diets for Better Nutrition for All [LINK to our article] clearly showed that the issue of healthy diets and nutrition is more relevant than ever. Other topics that align well with Belgian priorities and might be worthwhile to collaborate on are the holistic approach to the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, flexible financing and, of course, the growing role of agrifood systems and FAO in the Climate COP.  

2 – In these past six months, FAO briefed the Council of the EU Working Parties 8 times on a variety of topics, ranging from global food security and animal health to innovation. How beneficial do you consider such external technical contributions to the activities of the Working Parties?  

These briefings were of great relevance to us as the Presidency and the Working Parties. They were often done by FAO Directors, who gave a very comprehensive and up-to-date view of the topics at hand. This allowed the Presidency and the Working Parties to make more informed decisions. But what could be even more interesting was the dialogue and discussion between the Working Parties and FAO that followed the briefings. I like to think that these discussions made it interesting for the FAO colleagues as well.  

It goes without saying that we are very grateful to FAO for making such a big effort and we hope to continue to see this practice in the future as well. 

3 - On 30 June, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU concluded. What was your personal highlight in these intense last six months? 

I am sure you hear this in every end-of-presidency interview, but we feel obliged to reaffirm the cliché that these past six months truly flew by. The highlight for us is the fact that we were able to meet and work with so many amazing people, who are all striving towards a world without hunger. During our shared event on healthy diets, for example, we brought together a wide range of people and institutions, all with the same goal, which was something truly amazing to experience.  

4- Any words of advice to the colleagues working on future presidencies? 

Keep FAOLOB close when you prepare the agenda of your Working Party meetings :)

Read the full FAO - Belgian Presidency collaboration report here.

Read more about the work of FAO Brussels with the Presidencies of the Council of the European Union here.