<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>King Felipe VI and the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will address the European Parliament's first plenary session of 2026 this week, marking the fortieth anniversary of the two countries' accession to the European Union.</strong></h4> The King himself announced on January 9, during the closing ceremony of the 10th Conference of Ambassadors, that he would address the European Parliament "in a couple of weeks" to "call for more Europe," because "we must avoid at all costs that the future of the world be written outside of Europe." "In the past year, I have had many opportunities to speak about European issues, in Yuste, Bruges, Coimbra, Aachen, and in a couple of weeks, I will do so again in the European Parliament," the King assured the ambassadors. “I will speak about the transformative power of Europe in our country, now that we are celebrating 40 years” of Spain’s accession, “and I will also speak about our contribution to the integration process on such important issues as citizenship, internal justice, cohesion, equality, and even neighborliness, to name just a few,” he continued. He also announced, “I will insist on calling for more Europe, because, in the times we live in, deepening the integration process is an existential necessity for a united Europe.” “As you have heard me say on numerous occasions, it is not about defending what we have, but what we are,” the Monarch warned. “We must avoid at all costs that the future of the world be written outside of Europe,” he declared. “It is about increasing our influence in the world and our capacity for action thanks to Europe, thanks to our membership in the European Union, and Spain can undoubtedly take a step forward by building consensus, participating in enhanced cooperation, proposing measures to increase strategic autonomy, productivity, innovation, and the attraction of talent, or to fully develop the agreement with Mercosur, which is so important for the Union and certainly for our country,” he added. The King will therefore participate in the first session of the European Parliament, which promises to be packed with topics of great interest throughout the week. Specifically, the European Parliament will debate the European Commission's proposal for the EU's multiannual budget for the period 2028-2034, the motion of censure brought by the far-right Patriots for Europe against the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Lyen, over the European Union's agreement with Mercosur, the EU's response to threats from US President Donald Trump against Greenland, the situation in Iran, the crisis in Venezuela following the US attack and the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro, EU-US relations on strategic autonomy and security, and financial support for Ukraine for the years 2026 and 2027.
