Speech by President of the Government during meeting with the President of the French Republic, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic

Versailles Palace

I wish to begin this speech by thanking the President of the French Republic, François Hollande, for having called a meeting in this emblematic location with the aim of contributing our ideas with a view to the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome which, as you know, will take place on 25 March in the Italian capital.

We have many challenges pending; you are aware of them, I will not go into detail, I don't want to make an overly long speech. There are many uncertainties and the question is to provide a response to these challenges and to these uncertainties.

I believe that in Rome the people of Europe must fundamentally say three things: the first is that the European Union is a success story; the second is that the priority in the near future must be to attend to the problems of our citizens more intensely and more effectively, and in this regard the Bratislava "road map" undoubtedly constitutes a good basis for working in the future; and thirdly, we must talk about the future which, in my opinion, involves more and better integration between the different countries that make up the European Union. I will make a brief comment on each of these points.

The European Union is a success story at all levels, although there are some people who only want to highlight or pay heed to those things which - in any human work - do not always work. But since the Treaty of Rome, the European Union has enjoyed the longest period of peace and prosperity in its history. There were two world wars in Europe in the 60 years prior to the Treaty of Rome whereas the 60 years since then have enjoyed the longest period of peace ever seen on our continent.

The European Union is the region of the world with the most democracy, the greatest respect for the individual rights of people, for human rights and for the rule of law; it is the region of the world with the highest levels of well-being; it is the leading global economy; it is the largest trading power in the world; it is a cultural and tourist powerhouse of the first order, and it is the leading region of the world in caring for people, together with public pensions, healthcare and education systems.

By way of summary, the European Union is a success story and hence it must be defended, we must be united and, I repeat, we must battle against those who only highlight the mistakes which - as in any human work - have been made.

Secondly, I believe that in the future we must make an effort to be more effective in resolving the problems of our citizens. I don't want to repeat what has already been said here but I believe that in the near future we must pay close attention to four issues: firstly, to immigration policies, that means acting at source, in those countries where the problem arises because there are many people who, because they cannot live there, wish to leave their own country, and we must also pay close attention to our external borders; secondly, as has already been mentioned here, internal security and the fight against terrorism is undoubtedly a priority for the future; thirdly; external security and strengthening the Common Security and Defence Policy; and fourthly, the economy. The target is that which people seek and require: economic growth, employment and, consequently, to maintain and improve the cornerstones of the Welfare State: pensions, healthcare and education.

It is important to extend the internal market; it is important to promote a common trade policy; a key goal is to fight youth unemployment and extend the Juncker Plan, which has worked very well, at least in my country, in Spain, and to support everything that is good for socio-economic development.

Hence, that is the second priority.

The third priority for the future is where we are heading. We have spoken here about the White Paper. I believe that the White Paper presented by the European Commission is a useful contribution so that we can decide, among us all, on the future of Europe. This contribution, which is useful, leads us to the debate in which I like the option that commits to more and better integration. I believe that, at this time, Europe must look further afield, because that is when Europe has enjoyed the best periods in its history.

And I also agree with what we have just heard here. Spain is prepared to go even further in terms of integration, alongside those who want to continue in this integration process.

Aside from that, there are certain areas in which I believe we can work for the future: first, foreign policy and defence; second, we must have a more integrated immigration policy; third, we must all work hard together on the issue of internal security and the fight against terrorism; and finally - this is a medium-term issue - we must extend the Economic and Monetary Union.

In my opinion, it is necessary to complete the Banking Union and, in my opinion, it is essential to better and further coordinate economic policies so that our economies can become more competitive, which requires structural reforms, however hard these may be, because, in the end, this will work to the benefit of all our citizens, and we must also extend the internal market. When this is achieved, when we have greater coordination in our economic policies, then I believe we should talk about Fiscal Union and, above all, about the existence of a European Budget.

Thank you very much.