Pedro Sanchez has appeared before the European Parliament, unlike what is usual, not at the beginning of the six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union but a few days before its end. This atypical circumstance is explained by the coincidence of the beginning of the mandate with the surprise call for early elections decided just before, a fact that has conditioned the entire period.
Consequently, Sánchez’s intervention has adopted the format of a balance more than a programmatic proposal of the European presidency and has served for the president to outline the progress in the four major priorities defined at the beginning of the mandate: reindustrialization and strategic autonomy, the ecological transition and environmental adaptation, the promotion of a greater social and economic justice and the strengthening of European unity. Sánchez has described the presidency as successful and has stuck out his chest (although at least Responsibilities should be shared between the European Council that he has chaired, the Commission and Parliament) of the approval of some pioneering initiatives such as those that must guarantee the supply of critical raw materials, something that has become even more important since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, advances in the field of regulation of uses of artificial intelligence, agreements to reduce emissions of polluting gases, to promote the restoration of nature, or the improvements introduced in the field of recycling.
However, despite the attempt to focus the debate on European and international issues, the session ended up adopting a very domestic tone to the point that the amnesty has been the protagonist of a debate that has perfectly reflected what happened in Spanish politics during the six-month period of the European presidency: Sánchez’s attempt to capitalize on it internally and PP and Vox’s attempt to question the concessions to the Catalan independence movement before the European institutions. in exchange for the investiture. Given his status as an MEP, the presence of Carles Puigdemont, one of the foreseeable beneficiaries of the measure, has added an extemporaneous seasoning, since it was the first time that he and Sánchez debated in a parliament. Puigdemont has warned the president that if he does not comply with his pacts there would be “unpleasant consequences.” Meanwhile, Sánchez has sought his complicity by staunchly defending the amnesty in the face of the harsh criticism launched by Vox and the PP that has been echoed by some of his coreligionists such as Manfred Weber, spokesperson for the European Popular Party, who reproached him for saying that “the basic principle of democracy is to tell the truth before the elections.” Too much Spain and not enough Europe.
The Sánchez Government had carefully prepared the European presidency and the organizational success of the Granada summit This is what he endorses. In fact, this presidency was to culminate Sánchez’s mandate and be the showcase with which to face the new elections. But the results of May 23 altered the plans and Although the Spanish presidency cannot be called a failure, the internal political situation has left it in the background and it has sapped his energy, even on a day when it was time to take stock.