The Diplomat
Several ambassadors from European Union countries accredited in Madrid have contacted some of the members of the team formed by Alberto Núñez Feijóo in the event that the PP forms a new government in the middle of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council.
According to reliable sources telling The Diplomat, European diplomatic representatives, who were worried about the possible repercussions on the Presidency when they learned of the early general elections, have been reassured by the conversations they have been holding both with the current government and with those who could take over in a couple of months’ time.
The heads of the Executive have stressed to the ambassadors that the work prior to the Presidency has been carried out with great seriousness and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs -particularly the Secretariat of State for the EU- and the different ministries are all ready to hold the Councils of Ministers that will take place in Spain and to develop the different dossiers. The first, on energy and the environment, will be held in Valladolid from 10 to 12 of this month.
The ambassadors were present last Thursday at the presentation by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, of the Presidency’s priorities, and have been able to maintain contact with those responsible for preparing the six-month period, who remind us that, since the Treaty of Lisbon, a large part of the development of the Presidency is in the hands of Brussels.
If Pedro Sánchez manages to stay in La Moncloa, no changes are expected in the exercise of the EU Presidency. However, the possibility that the general elections on the 23rd will lead to the formation of a PP government in the middle of the six-month period has led the ambassadors to contact members of the team announced by Núñez Feijóo to deal with matters relating to the Presidency. They have done so through telephone calls or by taking advantage of meetings at one of the numerous Embassy receptions that are held at this time of the year to mark the National Holidays of different countries.
The PP leader announced that this team includes people such as former European Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, former Foreign Affairs Ministers Ana Palacio and José Manuel García-Margallo, former Secretary of State for the EU Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, diplomats Ramón Gil-Casares, Ildefonso Castro, Pablo García-Berdoy, Nicolás Pascual de la Parte, José María Robles and Professor of International Law José María de Areilza, among others.
The members of this team who have been consulted by the ambassadors have conveyed to them, according to the sources consulted, that if the PP takes over the government, it will respect the work carried out by those who have prepared the Presidency and there will be no major changes in the objectives set. However, they reserved the possibility of insisting in one direction or another on issues that could be of a more political nature, such as those related to energy or migration, depending on how events develop.
Last Saturday, at the start of the Spanish Presidency, Núñez Feijóo expressed on his Twitter account his “loyalty and commitment” to making the six-month term a “success for the country”.
In the event that the PP wins the elections and Núñez Feijóo is able to form a government without too many problems in the first half of September, he will have just over three months of the European Presidency ahead of him, in which a large part of the technical team that has prepared it will remain in their posts, even if the political leaders change.
