The Diplomat
The State Secretary for the European Union, Juan González-Barba, has traveled to Paris, where he held a working meeting with his French counterpart, Clément Beaune, in which, among other things, they prepared the celebration on the 15th of the XXVI Bilateral Summit between Spain and France, the first in four years.
González-Barbay and Beaune, who visited Madrid at the end of 2020, reviewed the state of bilateral relations, which will be relaunched at the summit. The dual nationality treaty between Spain and France, the first to be signed by our country with another non-member state of the Ibero-American community, is expected to be signed at that meeting.
They also discussed the Conference on the Future of Europe, for which González-Barba presented to his counterpart the Spanish proposals focused on the development of European citizenship, the attention to territories with serious geographical disadvantages, the participation of cities and the commitment to sport as a reinforcement of the feeling of common belonging to the European process, according to a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
They also discussed the reform of the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the future of Schengen, an issue on which González-Barba insisted that it is a priority for Spain.
During the meeting, they also discussed the issue of vaccination certificates, which Spain wants to be promoted at European level, ensuring data protection and non-discrimination.
During the visit, Gonzalez-Barba held meetings with several French parliamentarians, including the chairmen of the Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Committees of the National Assembly, Jean-Louis Bourlanges and Sabine Thillaye, respectively.
The Sate Secretary also held a meeting with French and Spanish businessmen to check the state of our economic and trade relations, and a meeting by videoconference with the Director of the European and International Pole of the French Employers’ Association MEDEF, Bernard Spitz.
His stay in Paris allowed González-Barba to visit the Cervantes Institute in the French capital, where he was able to confirm the good health of the Spanish language and culture in France. In fact, around 3.2 million French high school students learn Spanish and it has become the second foreign language, behind only English.
