In the first six months of 2015, the Presidency of the European Council was held by Latvia for the first time. Among its top priorities, the Latvian Presidency outlined a need to build a competitive Europe, a digital Europe and an engaged Europe.

Tackling youth unemployment

On employment and social policies, during the Latvian presidency the Council agreed to significantly increase advance payments under the youth employment initiative (YEI), in order to speed up the fight against youth unemployment. The Latvian presidency had committed to pay attention to the monitoring and development of social protection policy, with a focus on deinstitutionalisation, and organised a conference in June that highlighted the compromise to progress towards the development of community care by national stakeholders in Latvia.

A focus on disability and labour market participation

On disability, the presidency tried to contribute to the implementation of the EU Disability Strategy with a meeting focused on the rights of children with disabilities and labour market participation. The Presidency also announced that it would continue working on a Directive on equal treatment irrespective of religion or belief, age, sexual orientation or disability, though no specific results were reported

Innovation

On health issues, the Council agreed its negotiating stance on two draft regulations aimed at modernising EU rules on medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices. The aim was to ensure the highest level of protection for European patients, consumers, and healthcare professionals and to allow for safe, effective, and innovative medical devices to be placed on the market and made available to users in a timely manner.

In terms of the digital agenda, an agreement was reached on a programme to help Member States provide interoperable digital services with an aim to facilitate seamless electronic interaction between public administration, citizens and businesses.

Responding to current crises

Following the recent tragedies in the Mediterranean that resulted in the deaths of thousands of refugees, the Latvian Presidency devoted significant efforts to deliver political responses to the complex issue of immigration policy. The Presidency organised a joint meeting of Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs ministers to discuss the EU's reaction and migration policy.

This debate was followed by a Special Meeting of the European Council which set out various action points on migration. Alongside the institutions, the Latvian Presidency prepared and later renewed a roadmap for further work, which was submitted to the European Council in June. However, this issue together with the continuing talks on Greece have now been passed on to Luxembourg, who is holding the presidency for the second half of 2015.