Encouraged by their recent electoral victories in Greece, Finland and Bulgaria, the leaders of the European People’s Party accompanied yesterday to Brussels Alberto Núñez Feijóo, their great hope to recover lost ground in the next elections to the European Parliament and the Council European, where since the departure of the German Angela Merkel, the EPP does not lead the government of any of the countries of greatest weight in the European Union.
“Only a strong Popular Party, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will be able to provide the political leadership necessary to boost the European economy, create jobs and improve the security of Europe”, states the final statement of the popular summit, the third in which the Galician senator participates. In an example of the importance it attaches to the electoral outcome in Spain, the EPP placed the leader of the PP in the front row of its family photo, between Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, first minister of Greece, and alongside other heads of government, in addition to its president, Manfred Weber, and the president of the Eurochamber, Roberta Metsola. The other opposition leaders were in the second row.
Feijóo informed his European co-religionists of the “unheard of situation” that Spain is experiencing due to the coincidence of the elections with the beginning of the presidency of the Council of the EU, but also due to Pedro Sánchez’s decision to call them in the “hottest” time of the year and “most holiday exodus”. “This circumstance has never occurred”, but “despite all the difficulties and this coincidence of dates, the PP has a firm commitment to the Spanish presidency of the Council” and thus it has been transmitted to the leaders of the community institutions and EPP leaders, he said.
The leader of the PP did not hesitate to criticize Sánchez for the lack of dialogue on the preparations for the European presidency. “I have not had a single call or received any document from the Government” (from Moncloa they reply that no country does anything similar). “I have to say with sadness that I have had more information about the Presidency of the Council from the Swedish Prime Minister, who received me in Stockholm in his office (…) than from my country”. Nevertheless, the PP is ready, if it comes to power, to take the reins of the European presidency and is committed to making it a “success”, assured Feijóo.
For this reason, he announced that he has a group of foreign policy experts made up of former European Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, former ministers (Ana Palacio, José Manuel García-Margallo, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo), former ambassadors (Ramón Gil-Casares , Ildefonso Castro, Pablo García-Berdoy, Nicolás Pascual de la Parte, Javier Rupérez, José María Robles), the professor of community law José María de Areilza and MEPs Dolors Monserrat and Gabriel Mato.
This was not the only reassuring message that Feijóo brought to Brussels. Despite the fact that the PP, with the exception of deputy Alberto Casero, voted en bloc against the labor reform, if it comes to power, it will not repeal it. The approval of this law was the key condition for receiving the second tranche of aid from the recovery plan (12,000 million) and, in accordance with the aid regulations, in the event that any of the measures agreed as counterpart to the funds was “revoked”, the European Commission can apply a “penalty” (cut) when the country in question requests more funds. “Substantially it is a good reform” and it is not part of his priorities to “modify it”, Feijóo insisted on clarifying yesterday.
