Spain gets ready for EU presidency
THE SPANISH government is preparing for its presidency of the Council of the European Union, a period that will run from July 1 to 31 December 31.
Interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska began a round of international meetings with his Italian counterpart, Matteo Piantedosi in Rome.
He set out his department’s priorities for the sixmonth period.
In the fight against terrorism and organised crime, Spain and Italy ‘share interests
in view of the risk they pose to the values and functioning of our society’.
Another of the issues addressed at the meeting was European migration policy, which will be a focus of the Spanish presidency.
Spain and Italy ‘defend similar positions in favour of a European pact on migration and asylum that places the emphasis on the external dimension and on cooperation with the countries of origin and transit of irregular migratory flows’.
“In relation to this pact, Italy and Spain, together with the other members of the MED5, have maintained a united and strong position that has been fundamental in the negotiations,” said Sr Grande-Marlaska.
He added that both countries ‘share the need for the EU to equip itself with an effective and supportive instrument for the equitable distribution of responsibility for those reaching European territory’.
The two ministers also discussed the war in Ukraine and its consequences.
Spain and Italy face a double challenge – the response to and care of the people already received and the reception of new refugees who may be forced to leave their country should the conflict evolve unfavourably.
A stronger EU
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said this week Spain’s goal will be to ‘support the creation of a stronger and more resilient EU that can guarantee the prosperity and well-being of its citizens in the new global order’.
“The international order is changing and the European Union must change with it,” he noted.
“We must respond to this challenge and we must do so with forcefulness and confidence. “Knowing that, while we have serious vulnerabilities, we Europeans also occupy a geopolitical position of great strength.”
However, he warned against the danger of ‘overreacting’ and said ‘international fragmentation would benefit no one’.
He encouraged member states to ensure that the EU ‘responds to the current challenge with the recovery of strategic industrial capacities, but also with more integration, more multilateralism and greater international leadership’.