When a new country takes over the EU Council Presidency every six months, a flood of logo-printed pens, ties and calendars usually falls over Brussels. The Germans wanted to forego the trinkets when they took over the business in the EU on July 1st – for reasons of sustainability. This is one of the reasons why an accessory that only government employees have received is now particularly popular: mouth and nose protection for the German Council Presidency. In a dignified blue it not only has what it takes to be a collector’s item. It can also be used as a symbol of a German Council Presidency that has fallen victim to the corona virus.
The federal government had planned so much: It wanted to bring the next seven-year financial framework and the EU’s Corona reconstruction package over the finish line, become more ambitious in terms of climate protection, impede an agricultural reform by the Council of Ministers and Parliament, introduce new member states and then also solve the blockade in migration policy.