Spain and Portugal step up cross-border cooperation

Mateus Palace, Vila Real (Portugal)

At the end of the 29th Portugal-Spain Summit, which was held over two days and culminated in Vila Real (Portugal) with the signing of a Joint Declaration, the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, and the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, highlighted that cross-border cooperation was the main work topic of the two delegations.

The President of the Government of Spain explained that the goal of this cooperation is to attend to the needs of the citizens of both countries that live in areas close to the border and to improve their standard of living and well-being.

Against this backdrop, the two Heads of Government decided to set up a working group to prepare an integrated programme of cross-border cooperation and present this to the European Union within the framework of the new financial perspectives for 2020. Mariano Rajoy pointed out that the issue is "to have clearly defined projects for our border regions" and to act "swiftly and together".

Railway corridors and energy

Pool Moncloa / Diego CrespoSpain and Portugal will have three new railway corridors with all their areas supplied by electricity by the year 2021, announced the Prime Minister of Portugal.

The President of the Government highlighted that the three corridors (Sines-Lisbon-Madrid, Aveiro-Salamanca and Porto-Vigo) will allow transport times for passengers and goods to be significantly reduced. He also described the collaboration between the two countries on railway matters to be "exceptional".

The President of the Government of Spain also mentioned the increase in energy interconnections, an aspect on which he considers further progress should be made within the framework of the European Union.

Mariano Rajoy also stated that both governments maintain their "unconditional and firm condemnation of terrorism", and stressed the need to continue collaborating in the fight against DAESH.

Foreign policy

Pool Moncloa / Diego Crespo

In terms of European affairs, the two Heads of Government exchanged impressions on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and spoke about the need to take further steps towards integration. Mariano Rajoy reiterated that "it is fundamental" to make further progress on such issues as defence, foreign policy, security policy, complete the banking union and start to "talk seriously about fiscal union".

The President of the Government also pointed out that there is a strong intent to reach a "good agreement" with the countries that make up MERCOSUR. "Portugal and Spain are constantly striving to this end in their relations with the European Union; I believe progress has been made and that we might hear some good news by the end of this year".

On another note, Mariano Rajoy and António Costa took part on Tuesday, within the framework of the summit, in a Business Seminar, at which they debated ways to step up the extensive trade relations that exist between the two countries.

Current affairs

Pool Moncloa/Diego CrespoWhen asked about the possibility of calling a round table of pro-Constitution parties to tackle the pro-sovereignty process in Catalonia, Mariano Rajoy said that this is a "procedural process" that he did not raise and that "what is important is dialogue and consensus, and that we are all clear that we are going to defend such fundamental principles as national sovereignty and the unity of Spain".

As regards the position that the leader of the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party], Pedro Sánchez, expressed to him in the phone call they held on Monday, the President of the Government described this as "very positive". On the day following the election of Pedro Sánchez, recalled Mariano Rajoy, "he said that he had no doubts that the PSOE was going to adopt the position that its voters and members have always adopted, which is in support of the Constitution, national unity and national sovereignty; hence, this has been a ratification of everything we all expected".

In relation to the agreements reached to approve the General State Budget, Mariano Rajoy remarked that "if everything goes according to plan in the end", we will have our public accounts for this year, which would be "very positive, because this Budget contains measures that will continue to stimulate economic growth and job creation".

In this regard, the President of the Government recalled a Eurostat figure that the Portuguese Prime Minister had mentioned in his speech: two thirds of all new jobs in the European Union are being created in Spain and Portugal. "The Budget serves precisely to this end, so that this year we can create 500,000 new jobs in Spain and thus increase spending on key public services, education and healthcare, which depend on the regional governments". He specified that the regions will see their heading in the Budget increase by more than 5 billion euros on previous years.

On another note, when asked about the decision taken by the court in the 'Gürtel case' for him to appear in person and not by video-conference to give his testimony on 26 July, Mariano Rajoy declared that he "will comply with what the courts request".