Brussels (Belgium)
The President of the Government included the commitment to free trade agreements among the priorities of the European Council being held on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 June in Brussels. "Trade means economic growth, job creation, progress and well-being", he declared upon his arrival in the Belgian capital.
On this matter, Mariano Rajoy highlighted the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada, already approved at a EU level and which must now be ratified by all the Member States. "I hope that Spain will do this", said Mariano Rajoy, who argued that "this is something incredibly positive" for the country and for the EU as a whole and that Canada has very similar standards to those of Europe in terms of respect for liberty, human rights, economic progress and social well-being.
In this regard, the President of the Government described the announcement made by the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party] not to back the Treaty as "bad news" and a "mistake", and stressed that he will try and ensure a majority ratifies this in Parliament. For this reason, he said, I hope that the PSOE at least abstains, because if the Treaty does not go through because it is vetoed by Spain, "quite frankly this would make us a laughing stock".
Digital agenda, security and climate change
At an economic level, the European Council will also tackle the digital agenda, explained Mariano Rajoy. "We must continue making progress on the digital single market - that is where progress and many new jobs lie", he pointed out. We will also speak at the meeting about the single energy market and about energy interconnections, "a key issue for us and also for other countries, such as Portugal".
The President of the Government pointed out that security, defence and the fight against terrorism constitutes another priority for the EU and is one of the main demands from our citizens. "Terrorism has been hitting some European countries very harshly recently, and hence, we must increase collaboration and cooperation between all the Member State of the European Union", he stressed. Mariano Rajoy claimed that "we should not only fight terrorism at home, but also where the terrorists are", which requires a common defence policy.
Among the foreign affairs policies to be analysed at the European Council, the President of the Government mentioned climate change. "After the positions that some countries have adopted on this issue, we are going to ratify the Paris Agreement", he stated, which is "positive and necessary for humanity". Mariano Rajoy advocated "reaching an understanding between us all in order to do things logically and reasonably and, above all, meeting the commitments that we have all taken on".
Improvement in outlook for EU
According to Mariano Rajoy, this European Council is being held with Europe in a "good situation" from a political perspective, because the latest national elections have turned out to be "a triumph for pro-European, moderate parties in favour of sensible and reasonable policies and a defeat for populist and extremist parties".
The President of the Government added that the economic outlook for the EU is also positive, since all countries are going to enjoy growth during the next two or three years. Spain, he highlighted, will do this at a rate that is practically double that of the EU average. The goal is to see 20 million Spaniards in work and, "if things don't change, we could achieve this by the end of 2019 or in 2020", he announced.
