Ane Barcos. Aquí Europa
The Government ensures that all the objectives of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union are being met, according to a report presented yesterday to the Council of Ministers by the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
The Executive highlights the celebration of three historic summits, agreements to improve the lives of citizens, progress in designing the future of Europe and the defense of co-official languages as milestones of the semester.
As already announced by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, on June 15 during an appearance at the Moncloa Palace and emphasized in the report, the reindustrialization of the EU, progress in the ecological transition, social and economic justice and the reinforcement of European unity are the four main axes on which Spain is focusing its work.
Within the framework of this Presidency, on 17 and 18 July and eight years after their last meeting, the leaders of the EU and the leaders of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) met in Brussels to celebrate the Third Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the European Union. 61 delegations participated, including 53 heads of State and Government and the Presidents of the European institutions and concluded with a joint declaration to structure and regularize the bi-regional relationship. It also resulted in investments within the framework of Global Gateway and cooperation agreements in energy with Argentina and Uruguay and raw materials with Chile.
Spain also became a meeting point for European leaders on October 5 and 6 with the European Political Community Summit and the Informal European Council held in Granada. During the meeting of the European Political Community, the city hosted 50 delegations, attended by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. For its part, the informal European Council concluded with the Grenada Declaration, whose objective, according to the text, is “to mark the beginning of the process of defining the general political orientations and priorities of the Union for the coming years, establishing a strategic line of action to shape our common future for the benefit of all.”
In addition to the aforementioned summits, in recent months the Informal meeting of heads of State and Government and the European Political Community has been held in Granada; 10 formal Councils and 3 Eurogroup meetings; and 8 Informal Ministerial Meetings distributed throughout the national territory.
However, as the report shows, before the Presidency comes to an end there are two meetings of the European Council, six Informal Meetings of Ministers; three International Summits with the USA, Canada and the Western Balkans; and three ministerial meetings with Western Balkans, the African Union and Southern Neighborhood and UfM.
Agreements reached and to be reached
These meetings have led to reaching different agreements related to the four priorities of the Presidency. In order to Reindustrialize Europe and guarantee its open strategic autonomy, the Free Trade Agreement with New Zealand has been signed and the Chip Law has been adopted. To advance the ecological transition and environmental adaptation, regulations on fluorinated gases and substances that deplete the ozone layer, among others, have been agreed. In terms of social and economic justice, agreements have been reached such as the Regulation of fees and expenses charged by the European Medicines Agency.
Or the support for the agreement on the Data Law. And finally, and with the aim of strengthening European unity, the Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation has been promoted, for example.
The report also addresses the agreements yet to be reached. The main ones are related to the Expansion Package in November and the decision on opening negotiations; the proposal to reform Regulation 1/1958 to include Catalan, Basque and Galician as official EU languages; and some files in which agreements or general guidelines could be reached.
Finally, the document takes stock of the work carried out with the EP, reflected in the dialogue within the framework of inter-institutional negotiations to reach agreements on priority files for which 68 meetings (trilogues) have been held to date. Appearances have also been held in 13 parliamentary committees and the Government has clarified that the remaining ones will take place during the month of October.
