After the lightning trip to kyiv last Saturday of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchezto inaugurate the Spanish presidency of the EU and the visit to Madrid twenty-four hours after the president of the European Council, Charles-Michelthis Monday she was the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyentogether with his college of commissioners, who has traveled to Madrid on the traditional trip that marks the beginning of the biannual presidency of the EU that will occupy Spain until the end of the year. “We are in a crucial momentwe have to bring many important proposals to fruition”, said Von der Leyen during a joint appearance with Sánchez, supported by ministers and commissioners, in which he underlined his “confidence” that the Spanish presidency of the EU will be effective.
The German recalled that two thirds of the proposals that her college of commissioners have made so far, since she took office in 2019, have been closed. There are a third to finish. Among them reforms as important and far-reaching as the fiscal rules, the asylum and immigration pact or the review of the multiannual financial framework. Von der Leyen has summoned the Sánchez Executive to step on the accelerator in all these files and try to close them this semester. The German has also made it clear that, whatever the result of the general elections on July 23, she trusts that Spain will have an effective presidency.
effective presidency
“Whatever the results of the elections, I am confident that the Spanish Government and the institutions are capable of offering an effective presidency. I have full confidence in the deep European spirit of Spain on the issue of migration”, he specified during the brief joint press conference on one of the most controversial files that the Government will have to try to close this second half of the year. The possibility of a change of government was planned during the appearance and Although Pedro Sánchez did not want to answer the journalists’ questions to avoid problems with the Central Electoral Board, the German one has.
“In a changing world it is also crucial that we provide trust and security. It must be the hallmark of our policies. Whether you look at extremists, right or left, they are afraid of change. We center-democratic groups have to show that we have very clear ideas when it comes to tackling the change that is taking place”, he explained without speaking of countries or specific formations but stressing the importance of clearly explaining how to address policies such as climate change, usually denied by the extreme right, and important for reducing emissions. “You can have prosperity while protecting nature and the environment”; he has remembered.
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Von der Leyen has also placed the accent, the same as Sánchez, on Ukraine and in the need to continue supporting the country that has “500 days of suffering” and “500 days of impressive resistance.” For this reason, he has recently proposed, within the budgetary framework review, the creation of a fund of 50,000 million euros for the period 2024-2027, which is confident that the Spanish Government will be able to agree with the rest of the European partners before the end of the year.
The work meeting and the bilateral meeting that Sánchez and Von der Leyen have held has been preceded by a visit to the Royal Collections Gallery, after which meetings have taken place between the curators and the ministers to coordinate the agenda and discuss priorities for the semester that, in addition to the ecological and digital transition, They will focus on the economy and the reinforcement of European values in the security of the continent. Of the 27 commissioners, including the president, that make up the college, all have traveled to Madrid except for the vice-presidents Frans Timmermans and Margrethe Vestager, or the commissioners Sefcovic, Wojciechowski, Breton, Kyriakides, Reynders, Varhelyi and Sinkevicius who, due to their schedule, have not been able to move to the Spanish capital.