Pedro Sánchez prepares his ‘goodbye’ to Europe. As of today, there are no surveys that place the Prime Minister as likely to remain in Moncloa beyond July 23, the day the general elections will be held. And this Sunday, one day after the official start of the semester of the Spanish presidency of the European Council, the socialist leader will appear in Moncloa with the president of the Council, the Belgian Charles Michel, according to government sources. The hard core of the Presidency reiterates, however, that the advancement of the elections will not disrupt the Executive’s agenda for the coming months.
What’s more, it was only canceled -and at the request of the European PP- the Conference of Presidents of the Eurocámara, that was to be held in Madrid between June 26 and 27 with the King and Sánchez himself. This body, made up of the president of Parliament and the presidents of the political groups are in charge of organizing the work of the Chamber, relations with other institutions and the agenda of the plenary sessions. But the electoral environment in Spain is not considered conducive to organizing this act.
The same happened with Sánchez’s speech before the plenary session of Parliament in Strasbourg, which was scheduled for July 13, in the middle of the electoral maelstrom. That’s why he decided to move to September. But nothing guarantees that it is Sánchez who pronounces it. In any case, government sources explain that not a single one of the plan, worked on in the last year, is going to be touched. So that a foreseeable victory of the PP and the consequent landing of Alberto Núñez Feijóo in Moncloa it will be the international baptism of the leader of the popular.
Meeting with the Commission
In any case, next Monday Sánchez will receive the president of the European Commission, the German conservative, in Madrid Ursula von der Leyen. The Spanish Government and the Community Executive will hold a meeting at the recently inaugurated Gallery of Royal Collections, in the Royal Palace. Later, around 2:45 p.m., a press conference will be held with the President of the Government and the Commission. The truth is that the general elections in Spain attract the most attention in Brussels.
The president has tried to carve out a good community image over the years in the face of a foreseeable departure of the Executive towards the European institutions. In fact, his team has prepared an unparalleled staging to receive the European leaders. And it is that the most relevant ministers of the Union, of one ideology or another, have scheduled to take a photo with Sánchez and his Government throughout the Spanish geography. Sánchez has summoned a total of 25 informal tips. And only one will be held in Madrid. The other 24 will be held in cities like Cáceres and Toledo.
But in the heart of Brussels there is no concern about the foreseeable change of government. As this newspaper already recounted, the feeling is one of astonishment. Although it is made clear that the impact for the work of the Council of the European Union will be minimal, as it was also in 2022 when France held elections for the presidency of the Republic during its semester.
According to the sources consulted, the main objective of the Spanish semester will be unblock the largest number of legislative files on the basis of trilogues with the Commission and Parliament, informal negotiating meetings and meetings of the Conciliation Committee, a body that seeks to create legislative consensus. It should be noted that the rotating presidency of the Union represents the European Council in relations with other EU institutions, in particular with the Commission and the European Parliament.
But the Executive He has set himself other more sweet goals from the political point of view: the great summit of European and Latin American leaders, which has not been held since 2015. This meeting, which will be held under the auspices of the Spanish presidency, will have the main objective of promoting the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur. And it will be held in the middle of election week. The agreement between both regions will create one of the largest free trade zones in the world, since it will cover 800 million people. And, of course, the President of the Government is willing to hang that medal.
The vote that a summit does not mobilize
However, the core of the president does not dare to set the trade agreement as the great milestone of the Spanish presidency. In all of Sánchez’s appointments with the European leaders, the great issues that concern the Old Continent will be discussed: economy, migration, energy and, of course, Ukraine. The foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, will go to the countries that the president cannot reach. The next batch of countries will be Ireland, Denmark and Finland.
The truth is that Sánchez, according to the sources consulted in Moncloa, is much better valued outside of Spain than inside. But the President of the Government finds it difficult to make electoral profit from his golden role on the international scene, because the summits do not solve the things of eating.
The socialist leader, as this newspaper has already announced, has a way out in the event of an electoral crash. The PSOE leader will run in the next general elections. But it does not seem likely that Sánchez will stay in the opposition in case the Socialists and the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, do not obtain sufficient support to form another coalition. For this reason, Sánchez considers taking the leap.
