“In a changing world, it is crucial that we give citizens confidence and reassurance, it must be our sign of identity,” warned the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Madrid yesterday. “Extremists, whether right-wing or left-wing, look back and are afraid of change, of all change,” he warned. “We, the political forces in the centre, must show that we are clear about how we want to respond to the changes that are taking place”, the popular German accepted.
Von der Leyen is seeing the finalization of the ambitious green agenda launched under her leadership during this legislature in jeopardy in recent months, due to the opposition of the far right and the European People’s Party, which is paradoxically the political family to which she belongs , and he did not hesitate to defend European identity symbols against right-wing and also left-wing extremism in a press conference with the head of the Spanish Executive, Pedro Sánchez, and in front of all the members of the coalition Government . Also, therefore, from Vice President Yolanda Díaz and the ministers of Unides Podemos.
Thus culminated the first major event of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union: the meeting of the College of Commissioners with the Spanish Government to order all pending tasks in the brand new Gallery of Royal Collections, just inaugurated next to the Royal Palace and the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid, which became the capital of the European Union for one day.
Despite the complicated political and electoral context in Spain, in which Sánchez is up for re-election, Von der Leyen was convinced that the Spanish presidency will be a success. “Regardless of the outcome of the elections, I trust that the Spanish Government and the institutions will be able to comply with an effective presidency”, he confided. “I have full confidence in the deep European spirit of the Spanish”, replied Von der Leyen before crossing the Plaça de l’Armeria to meet the King at the Royal Palace.
Sánchez, for his part, also did not ignore the political context and assured that Spain “will fulfill its duty” this semester and will act as “an impartial intermediary” in the EU to try to close the largest amount of agreements possible between now and December. The Spanish presidency, he recalled, will be the last that will last six months before the dissolution of the European Parliament in April to hold elections, hence the importance of taking forward as many decisions as possible.
Aware that every gesture, every decision and every statement as EU representative between now and July 23 will be scrutinized in detail by the opposition, Sánchez avoided answering a question about the rise of extremist parties in Europe, already which has a “national derivative”. Von der Leyen, on the other hand, did not want to ignore the issue and defended that the “center parties” are able to offer alternatives to the promises of “right-wing and left-wing extremism”.
“Climate change is a fact, and we have an idea and a vision on how to face it, how to respond to the difficulties, but also how to take advantage of the opportunities it offers”, he alleged, because thanks to technology and the innovation “it is possible to grow while cutting emissions” and “have prosperity while taking care of the environment”. Also the war with Russia “is a fact”, Von der Leyen continued. “And as democrats – he defended – we must demonstrate that we will defend international law and strengthen the principles of the United Nations charter” on Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.
The migration pact, the green agenda, the reform of fiscal rules and the new common budget, which includes the guarantee of budgetary support to Ukraine for the next four years, are some of the priority files of the Spanish presidency and the Commission for the semester Von der Leyen and Sánchez have interests that coincide in many files. Spain yearns for an agreement with a new balance between solidarity and responsibility. For the German conservative, an agreement on the migration pact would be an important success, since since the migration wave of 2015, when the opening of Germany’s borders and the attempt to impose reception quotas immigrants opened a serious rift with the countries of the East, the EU has not been able to agree on any measures in the field of migration policy.
Von der Leyen also needs the Spanish presidency to reach an agreement on the proposal to expand the EU budget by 50,000 million euros to deal with the needs created by the war in Ukraine, the plans to close strategic agreements with countries in the North Africa that can help “manage” immigration. European leaders have not yet debated the proposal, which would shield macro-financial assistance to Kyiv for four years, but national reactions have been cold so far.
Sánchez yesterday reiterated that Spain will do everything possible to reach an agreement.
