Press conference by President of the Government following European Council meeting

Brussels (Belgium)

President of the Government.- Ladies and gentlemen, a very good afternoon to you and thank you very much for attending this press conference, which is taking place just after the end of the European Council held over the last two days.

This European Council has primarily focused on migratory issues and, specifically, on the external dimension of the common migratory policy of the European Union with African countries.

We believe it the right decision for the European Union to have taken this migratory approach, since Spain has been calling for this as a result of its extensive experience in this matter. The challenge of illegal migration must be tackled at source, where the root causes of its origin lie, and this should be achieved through dialogue and cooperation with the countries of origin and transit of these migratory flows.

In this regard, the High Representative informed us of the current state of negotiations of the so-called "partnership frameworks" between EU and African countries. These "partnership frameworks" are packages of mutual commitments adopted by the European Union and African countries, and, to date, the countries with which these frameworks exist are Senegal, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Ethiopia. In other words, we are now doing what Spain has been doing on a bilateral basis with certain African countries for some time now and advocating what the European Union should have been doing in terms of its migratory policy.

The EU has not only adopted this approach, but has now also implemented it. That is why I have thanked the High Representative for her work over the course of recent months and I also welcome, to accompany this policy and to tackle the causes of illegal migration, the additional allocation of 500 million euros to the Trust Fund for Africa, set up at the Valletta Summit back in November last year, to finance development projects in Africa.

As regards foreign policy, and in relation to the situation in Syria, we have called for an immediate end to attacks on the civilian population, particularly in Aleppo. We have also reiterated the need to ensure a lasting cessation of hostilities in order to allow access to humanitarian aid throughout the country without any form of restriction.

The aim of this is firstly to alleviate the suffering of the people and, in the medium term, to create the right conditions to facilitate the resumption of peace talks under the auspices of the United Nations. These three elements (humanitarian aid, a cessation of hostilities and political talks) constitute the basis for the French-Spanish draft resolution presented not long ago to the Security Council which regrettably was not approved.

In terms of the debate on restrictive measures, we have agreed to leave the door open to all possible options in the event of the current atrocities continuing in Syria.

Spain has always maintained that the solution to the tragedy in Syria can only be political, respecting the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. The future of Syria should be freely decided upon by the people of Syria.

At an economic level, this European Council focused, above all, on European trade policy. We also agreed to take steps, in those areas that are of greatest interest to our citizens, in relation to the internal market in line with the issues discussed at the Informal European Council held in Bratislava.

Let me speak, firstly, about trade. The Government of Spain, as you are aware, has always backed opening up foreign trade as a source of growth and job creation. At present, we export more than one third of our Gross Domestic Product and our multi-national companies have invested more than 380 billion euros overseas.

In line with this, the European Council has reiterated its commitment to a robust trade policy that harnesses the benefits of opening up markets in order to increase growth and job creation, and which takes into account the concerns of our citizens. I would like to recall that, in the first part of the crisis, Spain began to overcome this thanks to the major effort from our exports.

The European Council also sought to make progress on the trade agreements that the European Union has in place with other countries. I specifically refer to the swift conclusion of the formalities to sign and ratify the CETA agreement with Canada; to the boost given to the negotiations under way with Japan and to the interest in concluding an ambitious, extensive and balanced agreement with the United States as soon as possible. We believe that this latter agreement is particularly advisable, because it will unite the two largest economic areas in the world, with an expected major impact in terms of growth and employment, and which may define the standard of global trade and investment exchanges due to the weighting of the two signatory trading blocs.

In addition, in relation to these issues, Spain has advocated the importance of swiftly making progress on the negotiations with MERCOSUR, which was not contained in the draft conclusions but which, upon our insistence, and with the support of Portugal, was finally included. This is one more example of our commitment to Latin America in its relations with the European institutions.

This European Council also served to reflect, and that can be seen in the Conclusions, on the role that trade defence instruments should play in combating the anti-competitive policies of some countries. We have agreed to strengthen these instruments in order to tackle, in particular, situations of over-capacity that affect important sectors and that threaten employment in those sectors, including in Spain.

In addition to the trade agenda, we also reviewed other issues of interest on the economic agenda, such as the entry into force of the Paris Agreement to fight climate change. Its swift entry into effect has been possible thanks to the speedy ratification by the European Union; what now remains is ratification by national Parliaments. Spain will do this as soon as it has a fully operational government.

Secondly, we have reiterated the commitment from the leaders to make progress on the internal market. This is the European Union's main economic asset and we must ensure that its benefits are harnessed to the maximum and filter down to all our citizens.

In particular, the European Council highlighted two aspects of the internal market that are very important for Spain, the first of which is energy union. The completion of the Single Energy Market is a strategic goal for Spain which is prejudiced by its energy isolation. And secondly, the Digital Single Market. The Digital Single Market must serve to tackle the challenges we are facing in this area: for example, to roll out high-capacity digital networks, to transform our industry and services, and to speed up the adoption of digital technologies for our citizens, increasing their training in these areas. It is also necessary to make progress in other areas, such as the development of European platforms that allow us to compete with other regions, the protection of individuals' rights, the appropriate remuneration of intellectual property and the regulation of taxation by levying activities where they generate value.

I will draw to a close now. I am pleased with the progress that has been made, above all on the issue of migration. The issues of migration and trade and the situation in Syria were undoubtedly the most important issues under discussion by the Heads of State and Government over the course of yesterday and today.

In terms of migration policy, we have always advocated resolving the problem at origin. It is clear that there are many people who, if they don't have any chance of leading a dignified life in their own country, will try to move, above all young people, to other places where they can do so. This, when dealing with the problems of illegal immigration, undoubtedly generates difficulties for everyone, but it also impoverishes their own countries, because it is precisely young people who have the greatest possibilities of starting a life outside of their own country, and who thus leave.

That is why these agreements reached by the High Representative deserve our country's support and backing. We hope that more agreements are reached in the future, and we hope that now the EU has taken on this battle at source, and we must make an effort for people to live a dignified life in their own country and for them not to feel obliged to emigrate, that this will, I repeat, continue in the future.

The decisions taken and the position adopted on the issue of Syria are also important, as well as on the issue of trade. We are in favour of free trade, it has been shown that this creates jobs, wealth and economic growth, but we are also clearly in favour of fair trade, that is competitive and which, clearly, is the same for everyone in its regulation. There are certain important issues, such as what is happening - this was one of the issues tackled today - in the case of steel which undoubtedly concerns us all, this concerns many countries in the European Union, and on this matter we must clearly avoid those practices by other countries that wipe out the competition.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am now ready to take any questions.

Q.- I had a couple of questions on the issue of trade, and specifically on the agreement with Canada. Firstly, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said on his arrival yesterday that, if the CETA does not finally go ahead, then this would be the end of free trade agreements for the European Union. I don't know whether you agree.

My second question, do you believe that it would be such a terrible blow for European credibility if the summit with Canada is delayed for a couple of weeks or for a month?

President of the Government.- Clearly, those of us who are in favour of free trade and those of us who have seen, over the course of history, countries prosper when they look overseas, which is the case of Spain… We have always overcome crises based on looking overseas. I pointed this out on other occasions but I will reiterate it now; we have seen a surplus in our balance of payments in each of the last four years and this has undoubtedly been decisive for economic growth and job creation in Spain at this time.

Hence, this issue is very important for us. Major trade agreements are being negotiated with other parts of the world. The most advanced of these is that with Canada. As you know, there has been a problem with one of the Belgian parliaments, the Wallonia Parliament. I hope that this problem can be resolved as soon as possible. Negotiations are under way at this very moment - I am unaware under exactly what terms this is happening - but it is clearly the will of the whole of the European Council, since we have all voted in favour of this free trade agreement with Canada, for this to be resolved as soon as possible. So yes, the sooner the better.

And today the European Council has also made a commitment to continue working on new trade agreements; this is specifically contained in its Conclusions, which I imagine you will have already looked over, reference is made to the negotiations with Japan, as well as with the United States and, as I mentioned before, upon Spain's insistence and with the support of Portugal, reference is made to the negotiations with MERCOSUR.

Obviously, these things are not easy. Just remember that we started to speak with MERCOSUR back in 1999, no less. This issue was at a standstill for a long time; then, under the Spanish Presidency, in 2010, we started to get talks under way again and recently there has been another round of talks, and the next round will take place in Buenos Aires in March 2017.

Hence, these things are not easy. 28 countries reaching an agreement, which then, in turn, have to reach agreements with other countries - and sometimes we are not only 28, just look at the case of the Wallonia Parliament - this all takes time, but in the end, although we would like to see things go quicker, this time is well spent if, in the end, things go off well because, I repeat, liberalising trade will only bring more growth and job creation which, in the end, benefits everyone.

Q.- President of the Government, still on the issue of CETA, of the agreement with Canada, I don't understand very well how the government approved the signing of CETA last Friday and yet the Paris Agreement on Climate Change has still not been approved for its passage through Parliament.

Then, returning to a national level, which is what concerns us all most, there will be a round of consultations next week with the Head of State, on Monday and Tuesday, and on Sunday the Federal Committee of the Socialist Party will meet to decide on its vote. Can we consider that you will accept to stand for a vote of investiture whatever the outcome of the Federal Committee on Sunday? Is that the case? At any event, will you make any type of offer, let's say, within the programme of this investiture which will be put to Parliament, that is new or different to the one we saw at the previous investiture session to try to attract more votes than you had back them, or indeed more abstentions?

President of the Government.- In relation to the agreement with Canada, we have signed this but it still needs to be ratified, because the agreement must be put before both the European Parliament and the national parliaments, thus including the Spanish Parliament. And that is the same situation as we are in at this time with the Agreement on Climate Change that you mentioned. We have not been able to put the Agreement on Climate Change before Parliament, because we are a caretaker government, which has fairly limited powers, as you know. Hence, we are in the same situation: we have already signed the agreement with Canada, but this must be submitted for the ratification of the national parliaments, and the same is the case, as I mentioned in my opening speech, with the Agreement on Climate Change.

One of the problems of operating as a caretaker government for so long is that there are many agreements, many international treaties and many EU directives pending. A major effort will need to be made in the coming months if a government is formed.

As regards the round of consultations, indeed, as you have pointed out, we have been made aware that a Federal Committee meeting of the Socialist Party will be held, and that this committee will take a decision as to what they are going to do regarding the vote of investiture, and your question is whether I am going to stand for this vote of confidence regardless of the decision taken by the Socialist Party.

Of course, it is very difficult to adopt an approach at this time, but what I am going to do is wait and see what the King does, because the King can decide to propose someone as the candidate for the investiture or not, and logically, it is not my place to say what criteria the King should use to decide whether to propose a candidate or not. Hence, I will have to wait and see what happens.

But, at any event, I would remind you of what you already know: I have already stood for a vote of investiture in the legislature less than two months ago and had 170 votes in favour and 180 votes against. Hence, that remains the situation today.

As regards what I will propose if I stand for the vote of investiture, I made several proposals on the last occasion. I knew what was going to happen. I had 170 votes in favour and 180 against and hence, the crux of my speech revolved, on the one hand, around the pacts I had made with other political forces and, on the other hand, the parts of my own programme of government that don't contradict that position.

If I seek to win more support now, whether by votes in favour, which we know is difficult, or through a bloc abstention, then I will logically need to adapt my speech to the new situation. At any event, whatever happens, it is clear that this is a legislature in which we will all have to make a greater effort to get on with each other, to forge agreements, and logically, we will all have to give ground to a great extent. If everyone demonstrates their own goodwill, what we should do is work on those issues on which there is a greater chance of reaching an agreement, and hence, leave to one side those issues on which it is very difficult to overcome disagreements.

Q.- President of the Government, I wanted to ask you two questions. One, as regards the atmosphere on the Council in relation to the British Prime Minister, who attended for the first time. How did you view this atmosphere?

Then, I wanted to refer to a visit by the President of the European Parliament to Madrid a few days ago. I would like to know whether you support the idea of Mr Schulz remaining for another half-term of office as President of the European Parliament.

President of the Government.- What you said about the new British Prime Minister attending for the first time is true because there was - it wasn't a Council meeting, precisely because she wasn't there - a meeting held in Bratislava attended by the 27 Heads of State and Government of the different countries in the European Union, except, as I said, the United Kingdom. The reason is that one of the issues to be discussed there was the strategy in relation to 'Brexit'.

I believe that she was received in a courteous, correct and cordial manner. She expressed her intention to do things in as reasonable a manner as possible. She informed us all of what she intended to do in the future. In reality, she has already visited some other EU countries and in fact was in Madrid recently. What she said is that in the first quarter of next year, she will request the activation of Article 50, without setting a definitive date and, following that, she will try to negotiate to logically obtain the best position she can, as the rest of us will also do.

I believe that the meeting took place in total normality and she also expressed her interest, as you would expect, in continuing to comply and offer the opinion of the UK, and she has done this on the issues that affect the UK because, at present, the United Kingdom is still a member of the European Union.

As regards Mr Schulz, the President of the Parliament was indeed in Spain not long ago. There is still time left. Later, when two and a half years have passed, approximately next June, the renewal or otherwise of the present President of the European Council, Mr Tusk, will be proposed. So, we still have time ahead of us. I think that there is a reasonable balance in the European institutions at this time in terms of the President of the Commission, the President of the Council, the President of the Parliament and also the High Representative and, aside from that, there are two other facts that we should all take into consideration: first, the pacts that were agreed in the past and, second, the value of stability at such a time as we are going through now in Europe.

Hence, we will talk but we will do this at the right time and to date nothing has been definitively decided.

Q.- On behalf of the Socialist Party, Javier Fernández has made it clear today that he does not intend for the Socialist Party to support the Budget that may be presented in the next few months. I wanted to know, following this assertion from the Socialist Party, what you expect from this Legislature, which may be particularly controversial? Do you expect it to be a journey of suffering, as has been mentioned by a certain parliamentary spokesperson? And how do you expect to approve this Budget? In what manner?

And also, if you will allow me, in view of the Federal Committee meeting of the PSOE on Sunday, I wanted to know whether you would prefer a full abstention on the part of the whole Socialist Group or, given the circumstances, would you be pleased with just 11 abstentions.

President of the Government.- As regards the second issue, everyone knows what I would prefer, because I have been saying this since 21 December, that is, since the date on which the elections were held, and which I then reiterated on 27 June.

What I would prefer has always been a coalition government and I have been proposing this, I repeat, since the very outset, because I believe that in the situation we are in at this time, with the challenges facing us, the most important thing is to bed down our economic recovery and consolidate job creation, and given the many issues that I would like us to tackle, some of which are for the medium and long term, while other are for the short term - we have the issue of pensions, we have the issue of regional financing, we have the events that are taking place in Catalonia and we must discuss where Europe is heading and the position Spain must take on this issue - I believe that this was the most reasonable option. Moreover, this was an excellent opportunity for a change to take place such as had never before taken place in Spain, which is that, for the first time in our history over the last 40 years, those parties that traditionally alternated in power could form a coalition. That, furthermore, is what happens in Europe.

Now, in answer to your colleague, I reminded him of the pact forged in the European Union between the People's Party, the Socialist Party and that also affected the Liberal Party.

Hence, that was my position and it still remains so, but since it is clear that I live in reality and thus it doesn't make much sense to propose this because they don't want a coalition government, something which, as is clear, I respect. The second proposal I made was to form some sort of parliamentary agreement and thus display an intention to reach an understanding on six or seven issues, some of which I referred to earlier. And the third possibility is simply to allow the People's Party to govern, because it would be foolish to hold another round of elections, and logically, it falls to the People's Party to take the initiative because it is the party that clearly won both rounds of elections, with an even greater margin on 26 June.

In relation to… I am not going to go in to whether someone is going to approve or not approve something here, because I don't believe that it makes any sense. For the time being, the Federal Committee of the Socialist Party has not even met and you will appreciate that I am not going to get involved in a debate that will take place there and nor do I have anything to say with regard to what they should or should not do. That is a decision that corresponds to the Socialist Party and which I will respect whatever the outcome may be.

Aside from that I am going to try and govern, as is clear. I am fully aware of the support I have, but what is clear is that I am going to try and govern. It is not the first time in history that a minority government has tried to rule, either in Spain or in other countries. Hence, it is my intention to act as loyally as possible. Clearly, many of the proposals we presented in our election manifesto may not come to fruition but that is a basic rule and something that habitually takes place in all democracies, where it is quite rare to actually see an absolute majority.

I have a great responsibility if the investiture goes ahead, but I am not the only one with responsibilities in that circumstance because, in the end, the decisions that affect Spain must be taken by the 350 MPs in Parliament and not only the 137 that belong to the People's Party.

Hence, there will be a Legislature, if the People's Party's candidate is finally invested, which perhaps, despite the difficulties, may become a great opportunity to resolve some of the major challenges that Spain faces in the future.

Q.- President of the Government, following on with the issue of the challenges ahead, I wanted to ask you whether, whatever the next government may be, you believe that you ought to have an economic vice-presidency.

Then, there are PSOE MPs who consider that your re-election as President of the Government should not go ahead because of the "Gurtel affair" and because of what we have been hearing in recent days in the National High Court from Francisco Correa. I wanted to know if you believe that this case of corruption could affect the debate.

President of the Government.- That is a decision for the PSOE; not for us. That is a case where events that took place many years ago are on trial. Political responsibilities… No member of the People's Party is on trial there and what the courts say now is what we must all respect, on this issue and on any other. Hence, it is the Socialist Party that must take this decision.

As regards the government, while I still don't have a commission to even go before Parliament, you will appreciate that I haven't devoted even a minute of my time to the formation of the government. At any event, if I ever have to form a government because I have been proposed as a candidate to stand for the investiture and am then voted in, it is clear that I will present this formation to H.M the King before to anyone else. Aside from that, everyone, as you would expect, can do and say whatever they deem fit and opportune, but if I have to form a government, I would convey this first and foremost to H.M. the King.

Q.- President of the Government, two questions, if you will allow me. The first is an important issue here, in Brussels, which is the freezing of the structural funds. I don't know whether a political pact has been made on this issue so that they can be frozen and unfrozen automatically.

My second question is in relation to the climate of the Summit that has taken place yesterday and today. I don't know if any of your colleagues have asked you about the situation of Spain and whether you said "goodbye" or "see you in December".

President of the Government.- The truth is that I was already asked about that, not by one of my colleagues but by several. I explained to them, as you would expect, what the situation was in Spain, and when I said goodbye I did so in my normal manner, without trying to send out any kind of message which, moreover, makes no sense for me to send out to any of my colleagues, and hence, neither will I do so here.

In terms of the issue of the freezing of the structural funds, nothing has been agreed upon. This is an important issue without a doubt and would take effect, as you know, as from the year 2020. What I have to concern myself with at this time is in meeting our commitments with the European Union. The European Union has acted flexibly and the European Commission has allowed us a greater period within which to meet the deficit targets. The target for this year has been set at 4.6%. Just remember that it was originally set at 2.8%, as you know, and next year it will stand at 3.1%.

Aside from that, if we are capable of taking decisions and meeting this target, we will undoubtedly have no problems with the structural fund, and that is the question here - to try to do things well in difficult situations, because you are fully aware that it is not easy to reduce the deficit. In 2011, the deficit stood at 9.3%, and I believe that this year we are going to meet out target, we are working towards that, and then next year we will see what happens. And it is always the government's intention, not only because it is a commitment we have taken on with the European institutions, but also because we believe that this is good for the Spanish economy, to not spend what we haven't collected in revenue.

Q.- Returning to the issue of which leaders you have remarked on the question of Spain with, we understand that one of these has been the Prime Minister of Luxemburg, regarding whom we are not very sure as to how to take this exchange that you had with him yesterday in which we seemed to hear one saying in an hour and others in a week. Invested in a week? In an hour? What does all this mean?

Then, if you will allow me to ask a second question, you referred to the fact that Spain will also strive for the European Union to extend the network of agreements to return illegal immigrants, in some manner, to their countries of origin. What other countries, aside from the five priority countries, are you thinking of?

President of the Government.- We are thinking about all those countries of origin or transit from which the mafias try to take people in an illegal situation to the European continent; all of them, both those of origin and of transit. At this time, it is proving hard to reach an agreement with Libya, but I am sure we will manage this in the end. We are all aware of the dates.

I imagine that I would have been explaining to the Prime Minister of Luxemburg what you are all already aware of; that there is a Federal Committee of the PSOE on Sunday, that on Monday and Tuesday there are consultations with the King and that prior to the 31st, which is Monday, this issue must be resolved because, if not, elections will be held.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.