On the 26th of this July the Council of the European Union decided that Croatia would hold the rotating presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2020.

As the United Kingdom voted at the referendum in June to leave the EU its government decided to abandon the EU presidency which the UK was to assume in the second half of 2017.

In regard to the UK decision the European Council decided to move forward the order of presidencies by six month starting from the 1st of July 2017.

According to the EU Council decision Estonia, whose presidency was initially scheduled for the first half of 2018, will now be the first on the list to take over the rotating presidency in 2017. Austria and Bulgaria will follow Estonia and assume the rotating presidency in the first and the second half of 2018. The EU presidency of two other EU membership countries Finland and Romania is scheduled for 2019.

Croatia joined the European Union three years ago, on the 1st of July in 2013, and was scheduled for taking over the EU helm in 2026. But regarding the new situation after Brexit, Croatia will become the EU president in 2020, six years earlier than planned and six years after becoming an EU member.