22. 12. 2025
AUTHOR: Julian Popov, Sara Benedetti Michelangeli, and Marin Gillot
On 1 January, Cyprus assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), inheriting a crowded policy agenda. Yet, this moment presents an opportunity to align national priorities with key EU challenges: energy security, climate extremes, and water scarcity. As the EU looks toward its next long-term budget and refines its energy security policies, Cyprus can utilise its Presidency to highlight these areas of strategic relevance.
Energy Security, electrification, and interconnections
Cyprus’s Presidency offers a timely opportunity to shape the EU’s energy security agenda around electrification, grid integration, and Mediterranean interconnections. The European Commission plans to publish the revision of the EU’s Energy Security Framework, the Electrification Action Plan and the Pact for the Mediterranean Action Plan in the spring. Cyprus’s experience in deploying solar energy, reflected in its exceptionally high uptake of solar water-heating, positions it to ground these policy debates in implementation experience.
As one of the last fully islanded electricity systems in the Union, Cyprus faces challenges such as limited cross-border connections and insufficient system flexibility, which are prime examples of issues across the internal market. Such concerns featured prominently in recent Council discussions on electricity grids and were echoed in the Draghi report’s warning. By placing the recently published Grids Package at the centre of the Energy Council work, Cyprus can frame electrification as a core energy security objective rather than a parallel policy track. Electrification then becomes the main pathway to reducing system exposure and stabilising prices, consistent with the forthcoming Energy Security Framework and the Electrification Action Plan. In turn, this focus allows the Presidency to steer the energy-security debate toward long-term system choices with EU-wide relevance.
Cyprus can also leverage its unique geographic position to advance a Mediterranean energy agenda. In particular, the Presidency can highlight concrete project proposals to include in the forthcoming Pact for the Mediterranean Action Plan, which is expected to be released in early 2026. A key platform for this can be the Informal European Council in Nicosia, scheduled for 23–24 April 2026, where 10 Southern Mediterranean countries participating in the Pact are foreseen to join.
By highlighting opportunities for economic connectivity, the Presidency can help position Mediterranean cooperation as a practical contributor to mutual interests. Projects such as the Great Sea Interconnector linking Cyprus with neighbouring grids illustrate how infrastructure can bridge national systems and reinforce broader regional engagement. Against this backdrop, Cyprus can enhance its role as a hub for energy and connectivity in the Eastern Mediterranean, while supporting broader regional cooperation in line with the Pact’s objectives and the EU's energy goals. At the same time, Cyprus’s experience shows that energy security and connectivity cannot be separated from wider climate resilience challenges.
Water resilience and climate adaptation
Cyprus illustrates how water scarcity influences economic and social decisions in certain parts of the EU. Recurrent droughts, aquifer depletion, and saline intrusion place water management at the centre of climate adaptation, food security and long-term growth. During its Presidency, Cyprus can raise the profile of water resilience in EU climate discussions by treating it as a cross-cutting issue rather than a stand-alone policy area.
The Presidency can highlight the prominence of island water systems and climate resilience as part of the Integrated framework for European climate resilience and risk management expected in the second half of 2026, helping to inform future revisions of the Water Framework Directive. Building on this work, Cyprus can promote the creation of an Innovation Hub on Water and Climate, drawing on research and innovation projects supported by the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area.
Conclusion
By focusing its Presidency on energy security, Mediterranean interconnections, and water resilience, Cyprus can shape the European Union’s strategic direction while reflecting the realities of an island at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. These priorities align national interests with the wider EU objectives.
If well-coordinated, the six-month term can leave a lasting practical legacy by supporting electrification in peripheral regions and strengthening water resilience in EU policymaking, while laying the groundwork for the Energy Union. It can also help position Cyprus and broader Mediterranean connectivity as a test case for European innovation, reinforcing the country’s resilience while contributing to a more secure and connected Union.
