For the fifth time since joining the club in 1986, Spain has assumed tonight the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, a responsibility that during the next six months will force the Government to preside over dozens of European councils of ministers and hundreds of meetings of experts with the aim of moving forward with a long list of legislative measures that include dossiers such as the reform of the electricity market, the migration pact or the common budget.
The coincidence of the start of the presidency with the holding of elections on July 23 has made it necessary to make institutional adjustments behind closed doors in order to avoid political friction. For example, the visit of the college of European commissioners to Madrid has been brought forward, the meeting with the conference of presidents of the European Parliament has been canceled and rites such as the speech of the President of the Government in Strasbourg to present the priorities of the presidency have been postponed or the appearances of the ministers.
The general desire of the European leaders and institutions is that, behind closed doors, the Spanish electoral climate affects the work of the community legislative machinery as little as possible. Spain's experience in managing presidencies, the high degree of preparation of the dossiers and confidence in the functioning of the Spanish public administration are some of the factors cited in Brussels to explain why the start of the Spanish presidency was watch with relative ease.
"I have lived many presidencies, and I always trust the ability of countries to assume this great responsibility for six months," said the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, on Thursday, who praised Spain's commitment to strengthen ties with Latin America and the Caribbean at the summit that will take place on July 17 and 18 in Brussels. "What I would like is for all possible legislative projects to be closed or advanced," added Metsola (PPE), asked about Alberto Núñez Feijóo's criticism of Pedro Sánchez for depriving him of information about the organization of the presidency.
"I'm not worried at all," says a senior European official representing another institution. “It is not the first time that we have a rotating presidency of the Council that holds elections during the presidency,” he adds, alluding to France, which held presidential elections halfway through its presidency in 2022. “There were many comments internally, but it seems to me that this is a more national than a European debate. Above all because this is a very well-prepared presidency and Spain has very serious diplomats, with great knowledge of the European reality”.
But there are risks and questions, especially if following the elections on July 23 there is a change of government and it is possible that precious weeks are lost for the European legislative machinery in national negotiations, which would take time and energy away from the Spanish presidency to dedicate himself to European dossiers. This perspective makes Belgium, the country that will take over from Spain in 2024, fear having to carry out more initiatives than expected, admit diplomatic sources.
The possibility of changes in the permanent representation of Spain before the EU is what worries the most. "What worries us (if there is a change of government) is that they change the ambassador" in the middle of the presidency, national diplomatic sources openly admit, referring to the permanent representative of Spain to the EU, the diplomat Marcos Alonso, appointed as soon as the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, arrived.
On his way through Brussels, Feijóo stated on Thursday that he only knows Alonso "by name" and assured that he does not know what his curriculum is. “Normally, the ambassadors are changed at the proposal of the ministers” and, when the time comes, “we will listen to what their proposals are regarding collaborators in Brussels. Asked if, for the sake of the stability of the presidency, the PP leader could keep the ambassador, Feijóo said that he does not think it is "a crazy thesis", but he does not have "information about his work", so he does not can be pronounced
Although the most visible part of the EU's legislative work is carried out by the ministers, who preside over the different formations of the Council (Economy, Energy, Health, Interior, Justice...), the bulk of the work is carried out at a technical level, in the committee of permanent representatives of the EU, the forum that periodically brings together the ambassadors of the Twenty-seven in Brussels to discuss legislative proposals. Coreper is the true engine room of the EU, hence the concern evoked by this source.
The fact that the EU works within a clear framework of continuity and that there cannot be big surprises in the issues that the current presidency of the Council is going to bet on, since they are given by the legislative agenda, is another of the arguments that invite us to relativize the impact that elections or negotiations to form a government can have. “The role of the presidency is clear. What we hope is that, whoever leads the presidency, acts as an honest arbitrator, that advances the dossiers and solves problems”, settles a senior European diplomat.
