Statements by President of the Government before extraordinary meeting of European Council

Burssels

President of the Government.- I will make a quick statement now, as we are about to start and then I will give a press briefing.

As you know, this is the first meeting to be held of the European Council without the United Kingdom. We, the other 27 members, have held some meetings on an informal basis, but today's meeting is an extraordinary European Council to be held without the United Kingdom.

The main aim, now that the United Kingdom has notified its intention to leave the European Union, is to establish the main guidelines, the broad strokes, for a reasonable exit negotiation that suits everyone.

I should say that the guidelines proposals made by the President of the European Council suit Spain, and hence, I hope that they are approved in the form they are drafted at this time.

The following are the main points: firstly, the European Union must remain united in the negotiations. I believe that so far things have been done well and we are satisfied with that. Hence, I insist, unity is required.

Secondly, the European Union must remain, as was said in Rome, committed to integration, in other words, to more Europe. We believe that this is a very positive political project for the general interests of the Spanish people and of all Europeans.

Thirdly, the priority for us are the rights of citizens; obviously of Spanish citizens, but also all other European citizens. The national interest.

And then, there is one point very important to us: first, what must be negotiated is the withdrawal of the UK, and that is fundamentally where the rights of citizens will be defended and where all the economic issues lie. When that is done, we can start to talk about the solution for the future and the relationship that the United Kingdom and the European Union will have in the future. We want to see the best possible relations. We have ties of all kinds: the United Kingdom is the leading destination for our investments, there are many British citizens that come here as tourists, there are many British residents in Spain and also many Spaniards that are working in the United Kingdom. Hence, we want to resolve things in the fairest and most reasonable manner.

I will see you later, at four pm, to let you know whether there is any news on this issue or any other.