Statement by President of the Government upon arrival in Brussels to take part in European Council

Brussels

President of the Government.- Good day. First of all I would like to welcome the news that the two Spaniards who were reported missing in Tunisia have appeared. It is truly satisfying that they have reappeared and are safe and sound.

I would also like to mourn the death of the two people we found out about yesterday, the married couple Antoní Cirera and Dolors Sánchez, and convey to their family - this has been done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the minister - our condolences, our pain and our best wishes for the future.

I have also spoken with the President of Tunisia, I did so yesterday, to express to him the total and absolute support of our government and of the people of Spain following the very serious attack perpetrated yesterday, and I offered our support for any help he may require. The Tunisian authorities have behaved very well with the Spanish authorities who logically asked after our compatriots who died and after those who fortunately have been found today, as I pointed out earlier.

Various members of the Spanish National Police Force are heading towards Tunisia to help in the decisions that need to be taken and the actions that will be undertaken over the course of the coming hours, and the family members of the couple who died are also on their way there. We calculate they will arrive at half past one.

Jihadi terrorism remains one of the major problems of all our citizens for the last few years now. They are enemies of the Muslim and non-Muslim religions alike. It is very important to point out that the battle here is against barbarism and not against any religion. This is a war between civilisation and barbarism. And as I have pointed out at some of the European Council meetings where we have dealt with these issues recently, international cooperation is very important; prevention is also very important as is the constant adaptation of legislation, both ours and of the rest of the countries in Europe, in order to be more effective in our response.

In this regard, I would again bring up the agreement reached not long ago between the People's Party and the Socialist Party because this undoubtedly tackles one of the greatest threats to life, liberty, the security of the Spanish people and of all Europeans.

Following on from this comment on an issue that is truly dramatic for everyone involved and for their families, I would also like to mention an issue regarding the European Council that will be held this afternoon. As you aware, I am now heading into a meeting of the European People's Party.

The issues that are most important for Spain include, in the first place, energy. As you are aware, this is a key issue for our country because it is a question of being able to lower the price of electricity and gas, primarily for the end consumer but also for the companies themselves. In other words, this is a very important aspect of the competitiveness of our companies and hence for the generation of well-being, wealth and job creation.

We are satisfied with the proposal for the Conclusions that exists and the communication made by the European Commission which the Commissioner was obviously highly involved in. We must continue to take steps to achieve a Single Energy Market and, above all, it is important that the meeting we held recently in Madrid, between the President of France, the Prime Minister of Portugal, the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Investment Bank and myself - this commitment to interconnections - can serve to reduce energy prices and that this is contained in the Council's Conclusions.

Secondly, the issue of economic forecasts for the future will also be tackled. I only want to mention one thing in relation to Spain, which is the enormous difference between what we were being told in 2012, which was the first year in which I was present at the European Council as President of the Government and what we are being told nowadays. We were then undoubtedly the weak link in Europe whereas today Spain is growing and creating jobs and I believe that 2015 will be a good year. There is still a lot to do, there are still after-effects of the crisis, unemployment is still very high and there are still people in difficulties, but the change between 2012 and now is considerable and the question now is to persevere and maintain the same economic policy.

Other issues such as Ukraine are also on the agenda. Spain's position is to continue upholding the Minsk Agreements and not to take any new decision on the issue of sanctions.

Tomorrow we will also discuss the issue of Libya and certain other issues of foreign policy. Libya concerns me because we believe the commitment that the European Union should make to the whole of North Africa is, firstly, to set up institutions in these countries to fight against poverty and guarantee security and human rights.

After that, the rest will follow, but those are the priorities on which I believe we should concentrate. I am available to take any questions.

Q.- As regards Greece, will a mini-summit be held late tonight? I don't know if you believe it is right that certain countries that have contributed a considerable sum of money, like Spain, should be left out of such an important meeting on the future of Greece.

President of the Government.- I don't believe it will be decisive. What the Eurogroup dictates will be decisive, which is where decisions are taken on a unanimous basis. I believe that this is a meeting of good intent. The Greek Prime Minister has asked for this and he has asked for the meeting with these people, and I am in agreement with holding this meeting. But what is important - as usual we need to look at the major issues - is for Greece to meet its commitments and that the decisions are adopted where they need to be adopted, which in this case is by the Eurogroup. Aside from that, anything that can help ease relations and convince the Greeks that rules are to be upheld and not broken is positive.

Q.- President of the Government, some Heads of Government, such as the Belgian Prime Minister, are annoyed at this.

President of the Government.- I am not because it is a meeting of good intent and anything that helps try to make progress in the right direction and to convince the Greek Government that rules are there to be upheld and that Europe will be supportive of Greece, as it has to date, provided these rules are upheld, I believe that this is very positive. In other words, I welcome everything that helps move things along in the right direction.

Q.- President of the Government, how will the Spanish Police work in Tunisia? Will they help in the investigation or are they simply there for the Spaniards that were affected?

President of the Government.- I imagine that there will be many things that they need to do. I will not go into detail on this issue, but my conversation yesterday with the President of the Republic was very satisfying.

Q. You will coincide today with the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, at the European Council following those criticisms he made of the Spanish Government and which you said you took badly. I don't know whether you will have the opportunity to meet with him to clear this up.

President of the Government.- I meet with anyone who wants to meet with me, as you would expect, which moreover I am obliged to do.

Thank you.