Pedro Sánchez resigns from the speech in the European Parliament in July in the midst of the electoral campaign and pressure from the PPE
The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, will not travel to Strasbourg in the second week of July to address the plenary session of the European Parliament. It is a tradition that the head of government of the country that assumes the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union explains to the MEPs the priorities for the semester and its main lines of action. But this year, the plenary session of the European Parliament coincides with the electoral campaign, just 10 days before the vote, and Moncloa has chosen to prioritize the rallies.
“This morning, the Government of Spain has formally requested the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, to postpone the appearance of the President of the Government before the plenary session of the European Parliament to present the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU” Moncloa explains. The European Parliament has accepted the request.
From the Executive they assure that the decision is its own and was taken on May 30, but it has been known hours after a letter sent by the leader of the European Popular Party, Manfred Weber, to President Metsola, came to light, demanding, precisely, that Sánchez postponed his intervention until September. “This decision was already advanced last Tuesday, May 30, to the General Directorate of Communication of the European Parliament, 24 hours after the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced the call for general elections,” they add.
The explanation makes water everywhere. The notification has come after Weber's letter. Not for her, but after. Moncloa was able to clarify it clearly early today but did not respond to the questions. An informal consultation in the abstract with the Directorate of Communication to find out precedents and procedures is not a notification, even if the possibility was raised. “It's a joke and an insult to intelligence. These issues are not dealt with either like this or there and everyone knows it,” community sources point out.
Although it is true that there were doubts from the very post-electoral Monday due to logistics, calendar and convenience, until this very Thursday, Moncloa sources said, however, that the electoral campaign was not going to affect the president's international agenda, which in July includes , in addition to this trip now cancelled, a NATO summit in Lithuania and another of the EU with Latin America in Brussels. And they strongly insisted that there would be no changes and that the unavoidable appointments would be kept. Less than 24 hours later, the story completely changes and it is reiterated that the opposite had already been decided.
It is true that the possibility was being considered but no decision had been notified. Perhaps it had even been taken, but the request has only reached Brussels today, and to the appropriate body, the cabinet of President Metsola. Until yesterday the teams of the president of the Commission and the president of the European Council, who go to these appointments, participated in the talks to square the protocol without anticipating a cancellation.
“The intervention of the President of the Government before the European Parliament was scheduled for July 13, so it coincides with the electoral campaign. The appearance is postponed until the plenary session of the European Parliament in September,” says the president's team.
national recovery funds
The European People's Party has moved in Brussels to try to ensure that Pedro Sánchez's decision to dissolve the Cortes and call early elections during the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU has consequences. The president of the party, and leader in addition to the popular ones in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, officially asked the European Parliament that this traditional speech that the prime ministers or presidents give at the beginning of the presidency be delayed until September, after passing through the polls. And in addition, he is going to ask the European Commission that any decision on national recovery funds be also paralyzed until there is a new government in charge.
In a letter advanced this Friday by Politico, and to which EL MUNDO has had access, Weber formally asked Roberta Metsola to “postpone the program of activities” planned in light of the new circumstances.. There was not a completely closed date, but Sánchez had to appear before the plenary session of the Eurochamber in the second week of July. The most normal day would have been Tuesday the 11th, first thing in the morning, but precisely on those dates, the 11th and 12th, there is a NATO summit in Lithuania, which makes it more complicated.. Moncloa and the Parliament had been trying to square the best moment for weeks. Since Tuesday seemed difficult, they had opted for Thursday the 13th, after the Lithuanian appointment. It wasn't ideal, because attendance at the end of the week is better than at the beginning of the full week, but it seemed like the best way to save everything.
In reality, the speech was a problem for the Government itself. He takes in the middle of the campaign, which in itself is very problematic and compromises the institutional balance between president and candidate. And although it gives Sánchez visibility, it also exposes him to harsh criticism, reproaches and a trap from the opposition, with sticks from parties from all over the continent.. The speech would be about Europe, but the chronicles, most likely, all about the subsequent scuffle with the benches. In addition, 10 days after the vote, it would force the candidate for re-election to spend even longer outside of Spain, away from the campaign.
A close relationship with Genoa
The PPE with Weber maintains a particularly good relationship with Feijóo's team, thanks in large part to the fact that Esteban González Pons, still formally an MEP, although he spends more and more time in Genoa, was number two for the German in the group. The Bavarian has played a leading role in criticizing Sánchez in the last year, through interviews, statements or statements. The most notorious case, from just a few weeks ago, was the criticism of the European Commissioner for the Environment for the Doñana case, when he accused him of “putting on the PSOE shirt” in the dispute.
In the letter, the European People's Party says that “`the Spanish presidency comes at a time when “the EU is facing unprecedented challenges due to the war in Ukraine, inflation and energy prices”, in addition to the conflicts over the rule of law, immigration issues or problems over the competitiveness of companies. “In this context, the priorities established by the rotating presidency have a key role. Their presentation by the Heads of State and Government in plenary is a crucial moment from the institutional point of view”, alleges. And for this very reason, Sánchez's decision should force a modification of the planned calendar.
“Taking these exceptional circumstances into account, I ask you to consider postponing the day of the presentation of the program of activities of the Spanish presidency to the plenary session in September to allow the newly elected Spanish president to present the priorities beyond battles. domestic politics,” they tell Roberta Metsola, who is also part of the same conservative party. “I am confident that this small adjustment to the institutional calendar will reinforce the legitimacy of the process, as it will strengthen our ability to meet common priorities,” the letter ends.
The decision on the speech, the last word, was in any case made by the Conference of Presidents, the body that brings together the heads of all the groups and that prepares the sessions. There are Weber, who will bring up the subject, but also Iratxe García, who is responsible for all the European socialists.
Similar situations are not remembered in Strasbourg recently. There has been a change of government during a presidency, there have been elections during the presidency, but since 1996 both things have not taken place at the same time. And none affected who gave that speech, which does not really have a transcendence in itself. But that it is part of the machinery and the system of controls and demand for protagonism of all the institutions.
Brussels, battlefield
That the Spanish presidency was going to be a battlefield in Brussels and Strasbourg was already clear before the dissolution of the Cortes. The PP MEPs, for example, refused a few weeks ago, in the previous plenary session of the chamber (usually once a month, more or less) to meet with the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, who went to Strasbourg to give details to all the Spanish delegations. The boycott of the popular leadership was based on the fact that first Sánchez should receive Feijóo to do the same.
Historically, they allege, the government and the opposition have worked reasonably together in the build-up to Spanish presidencies, with Moncloa keeping whoever was in the opposition up to date.. Now, with relationships broken at almost every level, it's not being that way.. Which in fact would make a possible transfer of power after the July elections much more difficult during the Spanish presidency.
For its part, the EPP has used all its instruments to attack the Government, especially with regard to European Next Generation funds.. Spain is the most advanced country, the only one that has already received four disbursements worth 37,000 million euros in transfers that do not compute for debt or deficit. As such, it is also on everyone's radar, since not only Spain is helping the Commission to generate the standards, but also the most complete data on how all phases of the plan are evolving from our country.
They leave or they should leave, because one of the complaints of the EPP, and of one of its most controversial figures, the also German Monika Hohlmeier, head of the control commission of the European Parliament for precisely these issues, is that Spain does not provide information. Hohlmeier led a delegation to Madrid precisely to address these issues, and his criticisms have been used to discredit the process and denounce shortcomings.
The fact that Vice President Nadia Calviño said last Wednesday that the Government will present next week the famous addendum to the Recovery Plan, a paper requesting up to 94,000 million more Europeans, between transfers and loans, does not help either.. According to sources from the formation, the PPE is going to officially ask the European Commission to press the pause button until the Spaniards go through the polls. They believe that it is inadmissible for a government in office and that could leave in just 50 days to make a request that could mortgage the Spanish economy for years. Especially when there is no urgency, since the deadline to make the request expires on August 31.
For this reason, Weber is going to ask Von der Leyen, with whom he gets along very badly and the rivalry is permanent, to paralyze decisions on the recovery and resilience fund, something that on the other hand is problematic, if not impossible.. The Commission can make any informal suggestion to Spain, of a political nature. But the regulations are clear, and if the Ministry of Economy indeed sends the addendum, the Commission will have two months to make its evaluation, with the dates stepping on July 23.