Cyprus’ High Commissioner Mr Yannis Iacovou gave a briefing to the Parliamentary Friends of Cyprus Group in Canberra this week on Cyprus’ Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Presidency is offered to member states on a rotational basis every six months and is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, the upper house of the EU’s legislature. High Commissioner Iacovou gave an overview of the duties currently being undertaken in fulfilling the Presidency’s scope of work, which began on July 1. Mr Yannis Iacovou told Neos Kosmos that he was grateful for the opportunity to brief federal parliamentarians on the priority areas the Presidency is responsible for managing within the EU Council. These include creating initiatives to make the EU more efficient, to re-energise its integrated maritime policy, stimulate economic growth, and find ways to make the EU as an institution more relevant to its citizens. “Cyprus is undertaking the Presidency in challenging times, especially with the European economic crisis,” said Mr Iacovou. “But this is something all the Cyprus diaspora can be proud of, it is the first time that Cyprus has assumed this very important duty.”