The European political family of Alberto Núñez Feijóo mobilizes to try to deprive Pedro Sánchez of a potential moment of brilliance in the European arena. Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party and his leader in the European Parliament, has addressed a letter to the president of the institution, Roberta Metsola, to request the postponement of the traditional speech presenting the priorities of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the Union that will begin on July 1. The appearance is scheduled for Thursday, July 13, just after the NATO summit in Vilnius and only 10 days before the holding of early general elections in Spain.
The priorities of the rotating presidencies of the Council “play a key role” in defining the European political agenda and the Spanish turn “comes at a time when the EU is facing unprecedented challenges related to Russia’s war against Ukraine , inflation and high energy prices”, highlights the head of the PPE, for whom the presentation by the Heads of State and Government before the plenary session of the European Parliament “constitutes a crucial institutional moment in terms of accountability “.
The electoral advance in Spain, however, changes the political landscape, according to Weber. “In view of these exceptional circumstances, I ask you to consider postponing the date for the presentation of the Spanish Presidency’s activities program from the July session to the September session, to allow the newly elected Prime Minister to present the Council’s priorities to the margin of national electoral battles”, Weber proposes in the letter sent yesterday to Metsola and reported today by Politico’s Playbook newsletter, to which this newspaper has had access. “I am confident that this small adjustment to our institutional calendar will reinforce the legitimacy of the process,” he argues, pointing to the risk of politicization of this exercise. Postponing the speech to present Spain’s priorities during the semester of the presidency “will strengthen our ability to act on our common priorities,” concludes the head of the EPP, a Bavarian, highly mobilized to conquer a conservative government in southern Europe.
If Weber’s proposal goes ahead, if the Popular Party wins the elections and forms a government on time, it would be Feijóo who would intervene before the plenary session of the European Parliament, although after more than two months of the Spanish presidency had elapsed. President Metsola’s office merely confirms receipt of the letter and recalls that the decision “depends on the political groups” but that “incoming presidencies always go to Parliament to present their programs.” The provisional agenda for the July plenary session will be decided at the meeting of the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament made up of Metsola herself and the leaders of all the groups scheduled for June 15.
Although there are precedents for holding national elections to coincide with the holding of national elections, none of the recent documented cases occurred within just three weeks of taking the reins of the Council of the Union. Regarding the results, the only precedent for a change of head of government through elections in the middle of the semester of the European presidency dates back to Italy in 1996. However, up to now, the holding of elections has not been an obstacle to breaking with a an institutional tradition so dear to the Parliament as the appearance of the head of state or government on duty, whom they have the opportunity to question about their plans.
