Until now, three Spanish presidents have led a Spanish presidency of the EU: Felipe González in 1989 and 1995, José María Aznar in 2022 and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2010.
Spain assumes this Saturday, July 1 and until December 31, 2023, for the fifth time in its history, the rotating presidency of the European Union. This means that for six months the Spanish Government, with (for now) Pedro Sánchez At the head, he will be in charge of coordinating the work of the Council -the legislative and decision-making body in which the ministers meet-, of planning and directing the negotiations between the Twenty-seven at a politically complicated moment, at the gates of elections that could lead to a change of government. So far there have been three Spanish presidents to lead a Spanish presidency of the EU: Philip Gonzalez in 1989 and 1995, José María Aznar in 2022 and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2010.
1. 1989: boost to monetary integration
The first time that Spain took the reins of the EU, on January 1, 1989, the club – at that time the European Communities – had a dozen member states and had only passed three years of Spanish accession, that had occurred in 1986. The Spanish Government assumed the challenge of its lack of experience on the ground, in Brussels, with “enthusiasm and seriousness”, according to the then Prime Minister Felipe González. The main milestone of that “first” semester was the decision of the European leaders to give the starting signal to the Economic and Monetary Union that would take twelve years later to the creation of the euro. Three directives on job security were also adopted, an agreement on agricultural prices was closed, the Lingua programme, the first forestry program was launched and the idea of economic and social cohesion that would later lead to the creation of cohesion funds for compensate for differences between richer and poorer countries.
2. 1995: Union for the Mediterranean
With Felipe González still at the head of the Government, although already more politically weakened (he lost the general elections in March 1996), Spain returned to assume the presidency of the EU, for the second time in its history, during the second half of 1995. By then Three other members had joined the club -Austria, Sweden and Finland- and one of the great achievements of the European construction had just come into operation, which has been the free movement area of Schengen, which has allowed the withdrawal of controls at all borders. interiors and the free movement of people and goods. Among the great achievements is the agreement, at the summit held in Madrid in December 1995, to baptize the common currency as the “euro”, replacing the so-called ECU (European Currency Unit). The Barcelona Declaration was also signed, which laid the foundations for the Union for the Mediterranean.
3. 2002: the euro comes to life
On January 1, 2002, the same day that Spain assumed its third presidency in history, led by former PP president José María Aznar, the euro entered into society. That day the common currency began to circulate in a dozen Member States where it coexisted for a few months together with their respective national currencies as the peseta. It was also a presidency very marked by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States and the security crisis that led to the adoption of measures such as the framework decision on the European arrest and surrender warrant (Eurowarrant), which replaced the previous extradition system, or the constitution of Eurojust, the body for judicial cooperation. The semester was also marked by the process of enlargement of the EU towards Eastern Europe, complicated by the negotiation of the reform of the CAP. Aznar also included immigration among the priorities on his half-year agenda and raised for the first time the need to draw up a European plan against illegal immigration with readmission agreements and migration management.
4. 2010: New institutional architecture
The last time Spain assumed the reins of the EU was with the socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero at the head of the government, on January 1, 2010, whose presidency was received by ‘The Economist’ magazine with an eloquent headline: “ Spain now leads the European Union, but not with the example & rdquor ;. They were six months with a main objective: to promote economic reactivation and promote the exit from the financial and economic crisis in which the Member States were mired but based on cuts and drastic saving measures. It was under the Spanish presidency when the bailout of Greece was agreed upon, in the shadow of the suspension of payments, which gave the starting signal to the subsequent bailouts of Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus. The semester of ‘Zapatero’ was also that of a “transition & rdquor; since it coincided with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, which turned the functioning of the European institutions upside down and gave the European Parliament more power of codecision. The Treaty also created new figures such as the permanent president of the European Council and the EU’s high representative for foreign policy, two positions for which the Belgian Herman van Rompuy and the British Catherine Ashton were elected, who launched a new cohabitation gear.