Pedro Sanchéz presents the priorities of the Presidency of the Council of the EU

Spain will take on this challenge “with a deep sense of gratitude and responsibility”, said Pedro Sánchez. In this context, the President of the Government emphasised our country’s pro-European spirit, recalling that Europe today is a reality that brings us together as a nation.

“Europe was our gateway to modernity and will be the road that leads us to the best future”, he said, pointing out that in times of crisis in recent decades, there have been many voices and “many anti-European parties that have gained political weight and even a presence in our institutions”. However, “Europe has been stronger than all of them, has overcome the crises, and has come out of them stronger”, he stated.

President Sánchez has structured the main areas on which Spain will focus its presidency into four main areas.

First, the reindustrialization of the EU and ensuring its open strategic autonomy. The President of the Government recalled the context of international openness which, over the last five decades, has become one of the main drivers of economic and social progress in the EU. In this regard, he reiterated the need to find new ways to move Europe away from excessive dependence on third countries in crucial areas such as energy, health, digital technologies and food. Pedro Sánchez underlined the opportunity that geopolitical, technological and environmental changes offer us to position Europe at the forefront and make the region capable of attracting new companies and jobs, generating wealth and reducing external vulnerabilities in these areas.

He stated that in the eyes of the world, Europe is now emerging as a “safe and friendly” space and a region that has all the necessary ingredients to lead the economy of the future, including talent, innovation, a privileged geopolitical position, institutional stability, clean energy, cutting-edge infrastructures, and a first-class business ecosystem.

In the coming months, the Spanish Presidency will work on two fronts to make progress towards an open strategic autonomy. First, it will promote dossiers that will both encourage the development of strategic industries and technologies in Europe and diversify our trade relations. In this regard, President Sánchez reiterated that Latin America should be a priority, which is why the EU-CELAC Summit will be hugely important. Second, Spain will propose a common strategy with the aim of guaranteeing the EU’s economic security and global leadership until 2030. The President of the Government reiterated that Spain is committed to an EU capable of positioning itself as the great architect of the new international order.

As a second priority, Pedro Sánchez highlighted advancement in the ecological transition and environmental adaptation. In this regard, the President of the Government stressed that curbing climate change and environmental degradation will allow us to drastically reduce our dependence on energy and raw materials, thereby lowering our electricity bills and making European companies more competitive. Moving towards a green transition, the president said, will allow us to save up to €133 billion in fossil fuel imports between now and 2030, while making our companies more competitive and creating, along the way, close to a million jobs in this decade alone.

To make progress on this priority, the president indicated that during the Spanish Presidency, a reform of the electricity market will be promoted to accelerate the deployment of renewables, reduce electricity prices and improve the stability of the system. “We will speed up the processing of legislative dossiers linked to Fit for 55, such as the Gas and Hydrogen package, and the energy efficiency regulations,” he said.

Strengthening the Social Pillar, i.e. achieving greater social and economic justice, is at the heart of the presidency’s priorities. To this effect, during the next six months, Spain will advocate the establishment of common minimum standards for corporate taxation in all Member States, and will combat tax evasion by large multinationals. “This tax evasion costs Europe 1.5 GDP points every year- the same amount as it invests in building public housing and protecting the environment,” stressed President Sánchez. The Spanish Presidency will therefore work to end this injustice and will promote the establishment of minimum standards of corporate taxation in all Member States.

Furthermore, as the president explained, Spain will prioritise the appropriate revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, and will work “to achieve a reform of the fiscal rules that will put an end to the austerity policies that did so much damage during the financial crisis of 2008”. It will be a reform that can advance on the path of transparency and combine the sustainability of public finances with the proper financing of the green and digital transitions.

This priority also includes further progress in consolidating the European Pillar of Social Rights. “To create a fairer labour market, we will carry out reforms to extend workers’ rights in different areas of employment”, said Pedro Sánchez, highlighting that, in the next six months, several measures will be taken to improve the protection of vulnerable groups.

Fourth and last, the president announced that, in a context marked by uncertainty and growing geopolitical tensions, strengthening European unity will be among the priorities of the Spanish Presidency. In this respect, a further deepening of the internal market, the completion of the banking union and the capital markets union will be advocated.

Spain will also work to improve and consolidate common instruments such as the NextGenerationEU funds, and to move towards a more efficient and coordinated management of migration and asylum processes. “Today I cannot fail to mention yesterday’s terrible tragedy in the Ionian Sea, with the shipwreck of a boat full of human beings,” the president said. “This dramatic event once again challenges us as democratic societies”.

This priority, he added, also includes continuing to provide coordinated support to Ukraine and other neighboring states.

In addition to promoting these four priorities, over the next six months, Spain will host and coordinate negotiations at the highest level on a multitude of vital issues, ensuring the approval of dozens of dossiers that will end up becoming laws and concrete measures. “This process will not be carried out with citizens’ backs turned,” President Sánchez explained. “On the contrary, our presidency will be guided by one premise: proximity. It will therefore be the first to be produced throughout the country”. To this effect, all the autonomous communities will host at least one ministerial meeting, thereby having the opportunity to show European public opinion the richness of their land and the diversity that defines Spain. All of this will happen in a participative atmosphere, and with a cultural and dissemination agenda that will allow citizens to enjoy this six-month period. “Over the last four decades, the EU has done a lot for us. Now the time has come for us to show the world how much we Spaniards can give in return,” he concluded.