The electoral storm unleashes with ferocious intensity on the beginning of the Spanish mandate of the European Union, in its most convulsive moment since the fall of the Berlin wall and with a savage war at its doors.
Spain assumes next Saturday, July 1, for the fifth time, the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. And Pedro Sánchez will thus take the reins, at least in his first steps, of a European semester, until December 31, which was previously directed by Felipe González, in 1989 and 1995; José María Aznar, in 2002, and on the last occasion, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, in 2010.
To gauge the importance of the Spanish presidencies of the community club, it should be noted that some of its milestones were the baptism of the single currency as the euro and its entry into circulation, the entry into force of the Schengen area, the origin of the Union for the Mediterranean with the signing of the Barcelona declaration, or the approval of the Euroorder.
But none of Sánchez’s predecessors in Spain faced a general election, which will determine their continuity in office, in the early stages of the semester.
The head of the Executive, who declares himself “very excited” about this presidency, cherished the European mandate as the culmination of his international agenda and his foreign policy in this legislature, after the success of the NATO summit held in Madrid in June 2022, or his triumphs within the European Council by promoting the mutualization of debt, recovery funds or the Iberian energy exception.
But the notable loss of socialist territorial power caused by the municipal and regional elections on May 28 led Sánchez to hasten the end of the legislature and to call the general elections for July 23.
And the electoral scenario, with the poll forecast of a possible replacement in Moncloa and with Alberto Núñez Feijóo encouraging a change in the political cycle in Spain, contaminates the start of the EU presidency with a bitter political clash.
Sánchez thus sees the first steps of the semester torpedoed by the right, according to the denouncements of the Socialists. The first clash took place a few days after the announcement of the electoral advance, which postponed the president’s intervention in Strasbourg to September to present the priorities for the semester, initially scheduled for July 13, already in the middle of the electoral campaign.
Moncloa alleged that it requested said postponement on its own initiative and “out of responsibility”, so as not to interfere in the elections. But the government’s formal request came after the leader of the European PP, Manfred Weber, asked the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, to do so.
Shortly after, Sánchez agreed with the president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to advance to July 3 the visit to Madrid of the College of Commissioners, scheduled for July 6: precisely the day that the campaign will start at midnight. And the European PP also managed to eliminate the appointment of the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament, scheduled for June 26 with the presence of the King. The president of the European socialist group, Iratxe García, denounced that the right tries to “torpedo” the Spanish semester. “The damage is not done to Pedro Sánchez or the PSOE, it is done to the country and to the whole of Spanish society,” she warned.
Despite the irritation at an “attack by land, sea and air”, the Government tries to prevent the electoral struggle from blowing up the start of the European mandate. The Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, insists that it is “a true project for the country, for the whole country.” “It is going to demonstrate Spanish leadership, now that Spain’s voice is finally heard so loudly in Europe and in the world,” said the minister.
The Executive denies, however, that the electoral scenario could disrupt the semester. “Democracy is never a problem,” Sánchez argues. Other rotating presidencies have already faced electoral appointments and even changes of governments. “The only risk is that someone wants to politicize a State policy, that someone tries to politicize it would mean trying to make the presidency a failure for Spain and for Europe,” warns Albares. “And I hope no one is tempted,” he confides.
