Sánchez describes the weight of parties like Vox as "bad news for the whole of Europe"

Spain is already warming up its engines to assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1. An appointment that the Executive has been preparing for more than a year and in which the advancement of the general elections for July 23 has unexpectedly broken. Pedro Sánchez has presented in La Moncloa the general lines of this mandate, an appointment in which he has admitted four questions, but that, taking refuge in the framework of the call and in the warnings of the Central Electoral Board, he has avoided referring to issues of national politics like the pact in Valencia between the PP and Vox.

“It is bad news for the whole of Europe” the “representation” that “anti-European forces” are obtaining has been all the response given by the President of the Government when asked whether the fact that in Spain there was an alliance between the right and the extreme right would cause an imbalance within the EU.

“Having political movements that question or deny challenges such as the climate emergency or the joint response to the challenge on the eastern flank such as the questioning of our borders and European security is bad news”, has been his reflection, calling on other scenarios or appearances for their assessment on national policy.

Just 20 days after Spain assumes the rotating presidency of the EU, general elections will be held. With the possibility that there will be a change of government and, therefore, it could be the circumstance that it was Alberto Núñez Feijóo and not Pedro Sánchez who faced a mandate designed and worked on by the Socialists. The President of the Government considers that the PP has sufficient information about this rotating presidency.

They defend in La Moncloa that it is a “matter of the country” and that they have worked “with political, social and civil actors” and, Sánchez has exposed, “even the mixed commission of the EU of Congress and the Senate has prepared a presentation with goals and priorities. Dialogue with political and institutional actors is guaranteed because we have been working for a year.”

Therefore, and questioned about it, the President of the Government has not considered that in the event of a change of Government there should be a special transfer protocol or a special communication with the leader of the PP. Sánchez explains it in the fact that Spain, in its presidency, exercises “as an actor to build bridges” to carry out files that are already being processed, that are already underway. It is not that Spain imposes or dictates the issues, “we have to give the impetus to be able to close these issues” open as soon as possible.

More business taxes

In the act held in La Moncloa, in addition to the presentation of the official logo, Sánchez has exposed the four major priorities that his Government has set for this presidency. Namely: reindustrialize Europe to guarantee open strategic autonomy; further progress towards ecological transition and environmental adaptation; consolidate the social pillar in Europe based on greater social and economic justice; strengthen the unity of the European Union.

In his presentation, Sánchez has emphasized the need for large corporations to pay more taxes. Put an end to tax avoidance and evasion. “One of the main ways to reinforce the welfare state, to strengthen it based on resources, is to talk about tax justice, to put an end to these ways of tax evasion for large fortunes and corporations.” In his reflection, the President of the Government has given as an example that this tax evasion each year represents 1.5% of European GDP, “the same amount that is invested in building subsidized housing and protecting the environment.”

For Sánchez, this matter is a priority. “How can we ask citizens to pay taxes if many of these large corporations do not.” The President of the Government wants to “promote” the setting of “minimum business taxation standards in all member states, particularly in the digital sphere, to combat tax evasion and the use of shell companies.”