Meeting of Heads of State and Government of Germany, the United States, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom

The President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, will take part in a meeting in Berlin (Germany) on 18 November with the President of the United States, Barack Obama, the President of the French Republic, François Hollande, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, as a continuation of the meetings that have been taking place on the sidelines of the multilateral meetings of NATO and the G-20 between the leaders of these countries.

The meeting, which will take place at the German Federal Chancellery, will focus on three fundamental issues, each one of them introduced by two of the leaders in an introductory speech which will then open up into a debate: the fight against DAESH - Syria, Iraq and Libya - by the United States and Italy; refugees and migration, by the United Kingdom and Spain; and Ukraine and Russia, by France and Germany. The outlook for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States and the European Union will also come under discussion.

Bilateral meeting with Angela Merkel

Following this meeting, Chancellor Merkel will host a working lunch for the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy. This will be the first bilateral meeting with the German Chancellor since his investiture. This is a gesture, together with the participation of the President of the Government in the preceding multilateral meeting, of the formal return, with strength and influence, of Spain to the international stage, following a year in which the interim nature of the government has limited our ability to take action and initiative.

The meeting will be used to tackle the main issues on the bilateral, European and international agenda, and progress will be made in preparing the upcoming formal and informal Summits of Heads of State and Government of the EU, such as the European Council on 15-16 December, the informal Summit in Valletta on 3 February and the informal Summit in Rome on 25 March.

Germany is one of Spain's main economic partners. At a trading level, Germany is the second leading destination for Spanish exports (10.8% of all exports, behind only France) and it is the leading supplier (13.1% of all Spanish imports come from Germany). Hence, this is a highly dynamic and increasingly close relationship, since, in 2015, bilateral trade with Germany increased by 10.76% to 63 billion euros per annum. Furthermore, Germany is the fifth-highest foreign investor in Spain, with investments in excess of 12.4 billion euros (capital stock data for 2014).