2013 in the European Union

Decades:	1990s; 2000s; 2010s; 2020s; ;
See also:	Other events of 2013; Timeline of EU history;

Events in the year 2013 in the European Union.

2013 was designated as:

European Year of Citizens

Incumbents

President of the European Council – Herman Van Rompuy^[1]
Commission President – José Manuel Barroso
Council Presidency – Ireland (Jan – Jun 2013), Lithuania (July – Dec 2013)
Parliament President – Martin Schulz
High Representative – Catherine Ashton

Events

January

1 January
- Ireland takes over the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Cyprus. The Presidency's three main priorities are stability, jobs and growth.

July

1 July
- Croatia joins the European Union, following ratification of the 2011 Accession Treaty by all other EU countries. This seventh enlargement of the EU, brings the total number of member countries to 28, and official languages to 24.^[2]
- Lithuania takes over the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Ireland.

European Capital of Culture

The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one calendar year, during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension.