Irish Presidency to Promote Employment of Persons with Disabilities and Access to Assistive Technologies

Irish Presidency to Promote Employment of Persons with Disabilities and Access to Assistive Technologies

On 1 July 2026, the Irish presidency of the Council of the EU began*, and its priorities and website were published.

During its mandate, the Irish presidency will work on the following topics:

• Supporting the Commission to progress the newly strengthened European Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including a focus on the promotion of digital and assistive technologies as a key enabler of inclusion, freedom and choice. A focus of the Irish Presidency will be on addressing the disability employment gap, identifying those policy levers that can successfully harness the skills and talents of people with disabilities in the workplace.
• Highlighting key European initiatives on employment, including the Quality Jobs Roadmap and Act, and the forthcoming Fair Labour Mobility Package. The already published Quality Jobs Roadmap will be accompanied by the Quality Jobs Act, a forthcoming legislative proposal to advance workers’ rights while keeping up with technological, economic and societal changes.
• Ireland will emphasise the importance and impact of the EU’s approach to integrating mental health into all policies and will explore ways of strengthening Europe’s health security architecture by ensuring mental health remains integral to resilience, crisis preparedness and the management of cross border health threats.
• Seeking a Council Agreement to adopt the Equal Treatment Directive. (more context on the latest developments on the Equal Treatment Directive available here).
• Proposing Council Conclusions** on promoting safe spaces for young people in Europe. Online safety will be a central priority for the Irish Presidency.
• Discussing barriers to inclusion, retention and participation in education, highlighting the valuable roles of high-quality early childhood education and care in addressing social inequalities. 
• Proposing Council Conclusions on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education to promote enhanced STEM learning in all levels and types of education and training, and to support the green and digital transitions; and on skills and competences for the era of AI.
• Advancing the negotiations of the proposed Multiannual Financial Framework for the period 2028-2034.
• Taking forward work under the Preparedness Union Strategy.
• Following the publication of the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, progressing the Commission’s proposal for a Council recommendation on fighting housing exclusion.
• Supporting the implementation of EU LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy 2026–2030 and the EU Roma Strategic Framework (2020–2030), the new EU Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030.

* Every 6 months, a new Member State has the presidency of the Council of the EU. The Priorities of a Presidency of the Council of the EU are the policy topics that they are interested in including in the agenda of the different meetings between EU ministers, in order to advance the policies’ legislative process and to reach common positions. The individual presidency’s priorities are also in line with the trio of presidencies’ priorities – the presidencies of the Council of the EU are grouped in groups of three presidencies, who establish priorities for the year and a half that the trio lasts in order to ensure continuity in their work. The current trio of presidencies is formed by Ireland, Lithuania and Greece, and their trio of presidencies’ priorities are available here.

** Council conclusions are non-binding policy-setting documents adopted by the Council of the EU to establish political positions, provide operational guidance, or highlight priority issues for EU institutions, member states and international partners. They are drafted by the Presidency of the Council of the EU and adopted by the Council of the EU.

Irish Presidency’s Priorities available here.

Irish Presidency Programme available here.

Irish Presidency Events available here.