A new unwanted consequence and another setback for the expected Spanish semester. The official trip of the European Parliament to Spain, on the occasion of the beginning of the temporary presidency of the EU council, is postponed due to the electoral advance. Neither President Roberta Metsola nor the heads of the main political groups will travel to Madrid at the end of June, as planned and as usual. The Conference of Presidents of the chamber, formed precisely by those leaders, has made the decision this Thursday, to the anger of the Government and the Socialists.
"We regret that the European PP has allied itself with the extreme right and with the separatists to attack the Spanish presidency again," said Iratxe García, leader of the Social Democrat group, after the Conference made the decision with the I vote against their own, and the Left, but with the agreement of the popular, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the extreme right of Identity and Democracy (ID) and the Greens.
The decision comes after President Pedro Sánchez announced last Friday that he himself will not go to Strasbourg to address the plenary session of the European Parliament to explain the priorities of the Spanish presidency, a process that all prime ministers have just started their term. mandate. The day before, the European PP had asked Metsola to postpone this intervention because they considered that having elections in Spain just 10 days later was not the most appropriate. The president did not have to do anything, since the Government, hours later and assuring that the decision was prior to that request, announced that the speech was postponed to September.
That this official trip is delayed is not a problem in itself for the presidency, since it is more a question of formality, of traditions, of showing Parliament its importance. Metsola and those responsible had already closed meetings with the King, the Government and parliamentary groups, something that the presidency already did a few months ago on the other hand. But there is no logistical, administrative or procedural damage. It is more a question of image, of tranquility, of control. Spain has high hopes in that presidency, and the Government had trusted it and its commitments, the images with European leaders and community applause, part of its political capital among the many internal criticisms. Now, after the electoral announcement, everything changes and doubts multiply, the feeling of improvisation and logistical problems.
"It is dramatic that a party called the State exercises opposition to its own country. Meanwhile, we will continue working so that the Spanish Presidency, in which many Member States have placed their expectations to advance the European project, is a success", concluded Iratxe García, accusing Feijóo's party of associating with the extreme right and the Catalan separatists, since ERC is framed with the Greens.
The Spanish agenda, which takes a lot of work and time to balance, is thus disrupted. Sánchez will either go to Strasbourg, Metsola will not come to Madrid and the College of Commissioners, with Ursula von der Leyen at the helm, will also have to modify their dates. The visit was expected at the end of the first week of July, but now it will have to take place on the 3rd, so as not to coincide with the official start of the Electoral Campaign. Sánchez has already started the municipal one at the White House, and now it seemed that he would do it with a photo with the continental commissioners, but he will have to be a little more spaced out.
"Presidents Von der Leyen and Sánchez have agreed that the College's visit to the Spanish Presidency of the Council of Ministers be brought forward to July 3 in Madrid. The visit will focus on joint work between the Commission and the 2023 presidency", has said community spokesman Eric Mamer trying to cover his back. That visit, unlike that of Parliament, has more content, since it already falls during the mandate and because there is a formal meeting between the College and the Council of Ministers. And this cannot be postponed.
The European Parliament tries to avoid travel on sensitive dates, such as just before an election, as a general rule, to avoid prosecution. The deputies do it constantly, of course, at the party or individual level, but not by commissions or the presidency. That was one of the reasons for postponing the trip that a series of German deputies wanted to make to Doñana to see the agricultural conditions. The Socialists and the Spanish Government thought that this is different, since it is a trip totally linked to the rotating presidency. But the opposing groups affirmed that not only was there a risk of misuse of the institution, but that since the Cortes had been dissolved, they would not have been able to have meetings with members of Congress, beyond the permanent deputation.
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