For the fifth time since joining the club in 1986, Spain has assumed at midnight the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, a responsibility that over the next six months will force the Spanish Government to preside over dozens of councils of European ministers and hundreds of expert meetings with the aim of pushing forward a long list of legislative measures that include files such as the reform of the electricity market, the migration pact or the common budget.
The coincidence of the beginning of the presidency with the holding of elections on July 23 has forced institutional adjustments to be made outside the door in order to avoid political frictions. For example, the visit of the college of European commissioners to Madrid has been brought forward, the meeting with the conference of presidents of the Eurochamber has been canceled and rites such as the speech by the Prime Minister in Strasbourg to present the priorities of the presidency or the appearances of ministers.
The general wish of European leaders and institutions is that, from the start, the Spanish electoral climate affects the work of the Community legislative machinery as little as possible. Spain’s experience in the management of presidencies, the high degree of preparation of dossiers and confidence in the functioning of the Spanish public administration are some of the factors mentioned in Brussels to explain that the start of the Spanish presidency can be seen with relative calm.
“I have lived through many presidencies and I always trust in the ability of countries to assume the great responsibility for six months”, said Thursday the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who praised Spain’s commitment to strengthen ties with Latin America and the Caribbean at the summit that will take place on July 17 and 18 in Brussels. “What I would like is for all legislative projects to be closed or moved forward as possible”, added Metsola (PPE) when asked questions about Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s criticism of Pedro Sánchez for depriving him of information on the organization of the presidency.
“I’m not worried at all,” says a senior European official representing another institution. “It is not the first time that we have a rotating presidency of the Council that holds elections during the presidency”, he adds in allusion to France, which held presidential elections in the equator of its presidency in 2022. “There were many comments on an internal scale, but it seems to me that it is a more national than European debate. Above all because it is a very well prepared presidency and Spain has very serious diplomats, with great knowledge of the European reality”.
But there are risks and questions, especially if following the elections on July 23 there is a change of government and it is possible that precious weeks will be lost for the European legislative machinery in national negotiations, which would leave time and energy for the presidency Spanish to dedicate itself to European files. This prospect raises fears that Belgium, the country that will take over from Spain in 2024, will have to push forward with more initiatives than it expected, diplomatic sources admit.
The possibility of changes in the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU is the most worrying. “What worries us [if there is a change of government] is that they change the ambassador in the middle of the presidency”, admit national diplomatic sources bluntly, referring to Spain’s permanent representative to the EU, the diplomat Marcos Alonso, appointed as soon as he arrived by Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares.
In Brussels, Feijóo stated on Thursday that he only knows Alonso “by name”, and assured that he does not know what his curriculum vitae is. “Normally, the ambassadors are changed as a proposal from the ministers” and, when the time comes, “we will listen to the proposals regarding collaborators in Brussels. When asked questions about whether, in favor of the stability of the presidency, he could keep the ambassadorship, Feijóo said that it does not seem to him “a far-fetched thesis”, but that he does not have “information about his work”, because which cannot be pronounced.
Although the most visible part of the EU’s legislative work is carried out by the ministers, who preside over the different formations of the Council (Economy, Energy, Health, Interior, Justice…), the bulk takes place in the technical field , to the committee of permanent representatives before the EU, the forum that periodically gathers the ambassadors of the Twenty-seven in Brussels to debate legislative proposals. Coreper is the true engine room of the EU, hence the concern evoked by the source.
The fact that, at this point in the legislature, the EU is working within a clear framework of continuity and that there can be no major surprises in the issues on which the next presidency of the Council will bet, since they are defined by the legislative agenda , is another of the arguments that invite to relativize the impact that the 23-J or the negotiations to form a government can have. “The role of the presidency is clear. And we hope that, whoever leads the presidency, will act as an honest arbitrator, who will advance the dossiers and solve problems”, concludes a senior European diplomat.
