If the success of a rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) can be measured by the number and caliber of the agreements that are closed during the corresponding semester, it is best to first define very well what are the priorities that are set on the target
And analyze in detail the positions of all the members of the not always well-matched community club, in order to know in advance what are the obstacles to overcome and also the support available to make progress in each of the files that are on the table.
A precaution that does not detract from "ambition" or "high expectations", as warned in the Government, to the project that Pedro Sánchez is designing for the semester of the Spanish rotating presidency of the EU, which starts on July 1.
In other words, barely a month after the municipal and regional elections on May 28. The campaign and the general elections in Spain, already scheduled for December, will therefore be held in full Spanish presidency of the Council.
And Sánchez is willing to deploy on both parallel fronts with the same intensity. All or nothing, according to the established custom of his political project. Although neither of them will be paths of roses.
"Listen, to pave the way," say Executive sources, is now the great objective that Sánchez sets for himself to embark on the route to the European semester. That is to say, knowing first-hand, face to face and without intermediaries, the positions and approaches of the majority of the presidents and prime ministers of the governments of the member states in each open folder.
For this, Moncloa is programming a succession of express tours of the president to cover a good part of the community map. The first took place last week: in just a day and a half, Sánchez met with the Austrian Federal Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, in Vienna; with the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, in Zagreb; and with the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Robert Golob, at Brdo Castle in Kranj.
Next week, specifically on March 2 and 3, as reported by Moncloa, the Spanish president will star in his second preparatory tour of the European semester. On this occasion, the planned destinations are Ireland, Denmark and Finland.
Overall, and with the parenthesis of the campaign and the municipal and regional elections of 28-M, Sánchez plans to visit up to fifteen European capitals. No respite: he even contemplates covering three of these countries in a single day.
A priori, only the Hungary of the ultra-nationalist Viktor Orbán seems to be off the radar for now of the forecasts of these express tours by Sánchez. Although precisely one of the objectives of the program is to know the positions "less coincident" with those of the Spanish Government, to gauge the main risks when trying to seal unanimous agreements in the community club.
In Moncloa they assure that the priorities of a semester of the current presidency are not formalized until just 15 days before it begins, given the volatile scenario due to the war in Ukraine that is now one year old. But Sánchez himself already began to outline them during this first mini-tour. There is a tailwind in the face of the rush of time, they assume, since the Spanish will be the last full presidency of this legislature – the next one will be Belgium – before the European elections in May 2024.
Among the major chapters that Sánchez wants to prioritize is that of open strategic autonomy, since the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine evidenced the excessive dependence on the EU, in energy and health, in the primary sector and in the consumer goods industry. microchips and semiconductors. The reform of the electricity market is thus one of the bets of the Spanish president.
Also, new alliances. “Europe needs friends”, Sánchez constantly underlines, looking at Latin America and North Africa. He also wants to end the debate on the new economic governance and fiscal rules. And the most difficult yet: the migration pact, to reduce irregular migration, not so much with fences and sanctions as with cooperation with the countries of origin and transit. "Security is guaranteed at source," defends Sánchez.
