Ireland’s presidency of the EU Council in 2026

• For intergenerational fairness to become a cross-cutting principle, pursue a coordinated, mainstreaming approach that avoids siloing it within the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport (EYCS) Council. Instead,  intergenerational fairness should serve as an anchoring principle for decisions across multiple Council configurations. EPSCO, ECOFIN, Competitiveness, Research and Environment Councils would each apply this lens within their policy domains, allowing the principle of intergenerational fairness to gain traction where decisions with generational consequences are made.
• Advance the Cloud and AI Development Act (CAIDA) and relevant funding instruments such as Horizon Europe and the Competitiveness Fund, both critical for strengthening Europe’s AI capabilities and supporting breakthrough innovation in AI development and deployment.
• At the High-level Summit on AI that Ireland will convene in October 2026—”Enabling AI to Power Innovation-Led Growth in Europe” : secure political commitment to prepare for the AGI-related risks and governance challenges expected in the coming years, ensuring Europe can navigate the AGI technological shift safely.
• Coordinate progress on Biotech Act I and Biotech Act II across relevant Council configurations (EPSCO for health and regulatory issues; the Competitiveness Council for industrial and research aspects). The EU  Innovation Act should retain a strong biotech focus, drawing on Ireland’s regulatory expertise in the HPRA and its role within the EMA.
• Deepen EU cooperation with like-minded partners (UK, Canada, the African Union), creating the conditions to address climate-security challenges while leveraging Ireland and EU’s diplomatic strengths. The Presidency should launch early technical and informal discussions on the Energy Union governance revision, preparing member states ahead of the Commission’s Q4 2026 proposal and aligning with the Green Deal goals on energy security and fossil fuel phase-out.
• Advance the Digital Fairness Act, launching early technical discussions and framing Council priorities ahead of the Commission’s Q4 2026 proposal, ensuring consumer protection and democratic accountability are embedded in digital governance regulation.
• Strengthen effective enforcement of the key regulatory instruments enforced EU-wide: the Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, Data Act and AI Act. The Presidency could meet this objective by following up on previous Presidencies’ efforts with broad political high-level stocktake on Guiding Questions for Stakeholder Consultations implementation (e.g. this Danish Presidency effort) to inform Council discussions and complement the EU Democracy Shield. Relatedly, facilitate discussions across COREPER I and COREPER II on combating disinformation and misinformation – phenomena which impact European security at large and jeopardise trust in democratic instruments and institutions.
• Facilitate progress on the 28th regime as part of broader and long-term competitiveness with careful consideration by EPSCO Council on labour rights implications. An efficiently designed, inclusive, and promptly implemented 28th regime would reduce regulatory fragmentation for European startups, enabling them to scale across the single market effectively and with a longer-term perspective.

Impact for people, businesses and communities

Question 3 – How can the work of the Council during the term of the Irish Presidency make  the most substantial positive impact for people, businesses and communities across the EU?

The Irish Presidency should deliver concrete progress on emerging technology policies that balance Europe’s competitiveness with safety and intergenerational fairness for citizens. Given Ireland’s unique positioning in the global tech sector, it can demonstrate that Europe can lead in evidence-based decision-making and  innovation while protecting people and businesses from the risks of rapidly evolving
technologies through an approach that considers the long-term interests of European citizens.

Developing effective policy for emerging technologies is inherently difficult, given their broad and often unpredictable impacts on people and businesses. To address this challenge, Ireland can actively facilitate broader stakeholder-led drafting of implementing rules as the preferred approach for technical provisions, building on the GPAI Code of Practice model that delivered clearer, more workable, and inclusive standards. For example, in Digital Omnibus trilogues, this method can resolve contested provisions by deferring  technical detail to expert-led processes, ensuring workable outcomes that serve both innovation and public interest.

The emerging trend among Member States to embrace tech diplomacy and science diplomacy and embed these within Council Presidency working party chairmanships as we saw under the Danish Presidency can unlock significant positive impact for the EU: it can build technology-based consensus in EU decision-making that carries through back in national capitals, to assure Council Presidency legacies in subsequent years. The European Framework for Science Diplomacy, co-created by scientists and diplomats, is a product worth further consideration by the Irish Presidency. The Framework’s specific recommendations merit attention during the latter months of 2026, milestone moments in MFF and Horizon Europe negotiations.

Communicating the values and benefits of EU membership

Question 4 – How can we best communicate the values and benefits of EU membership to its citizens and create a sense of ownership, amongst citizens, over Ireland’s Presidency of the  Council of the EU?

Ireland’s 2026 Council Presidency can build a sense of ownership by showing citizens how Ireland’s regulatory and institutional framework for digital services actively shapes EU rules that ultimately protect people’s rights, strengthen competitiveness, and support a sustainable, secure tech future.

Recent developments, such as growing tensions with the current US administration, highlight the need to  reinforce this legacy, making it even more important to communicate Ireland’s contribution to fair, safe, and climate-aligned digital and emerging tech markets across Europe. The Irish Presidency should communicate  EU membership benefits through concrete examples of responsible innovation that directly impact citizens’  lives.

To create genuine citizen ownership, Ireland should strategically guide the thematic focus of Eurobarometer surveys to ensure policy prioritization reflects citizens’ real concerns, demonstrating that the Presidency responds to what matters to people.

• Measuring public urgency around climate interventions and perceptions of different climate technologies, informing the development of governance frameworks for climate intervention technologies.
• Gauging citizen views on neurotechnology applications to identify governance development opportunities that balance innovation with ethical safeguards.
• Assessing public understanding and support for SME-driven biotech innovation versus corporate-dominated approaches.

Other comments

Question 5 – Any other comments

As emphasised throughout this submission, Ireland’s 2026 Presidency should establish intergenerational fairness as the guiding principle for Europe’s approach to emerging technologies. This principle needs to actively shape agenda-setting and guide discussions within the Council across different policy and regulatory procedures, from AI governance and biotechnology frameworks to digital infrastructure standards.

Intergenerational fairness principles will ensure today’s decisions on emerging technologies create opportunities rather than vulnerabilities for current and future generations. This is particularly important for Europe’s competitiveness as Europe can be competitive only if it ensures that emerging technologies serve the long-term interests of future generations.

With Europe facing a narrow window to shape emerging technologies for intergenerational fairness, CFG advocates for three big, bold commitments requiring political will by consensus: embedding future  generations into policymaking, building anticipatory governance capacity and making strategic choices about which technologies to accelerate. CFG stands for governing innovation – enhancing competitiveness today,  and through long-term governance, securing fairness and progress for future generations. We believe these objectives to be aligned with Ireland’s approach to its upcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU, and we  look forward to working with the Irish Presidency and the Trio programme it will lead on advancing this vision.