Pedro Sánchez argues that the EU must act urgently to protect citizens and businesses from the energy crisis

Palace of Versailles, Paris (France)

Sanctions against Russia and Belarus over the war, the strategic autonomy of the Union - energy and defence -, the application for EU membership by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, and the new economic growth and investment model were also discussed.

EU strategic autonomy: Energy and defence

In the energy debate, led by Spain since September 2021, the EU27 have agreed to ask the European Commission to prepare a document with "concrete, urgent and immediately effective measures to substantially reduce electricity prices" before the end of March. This text will be discussed at the next European Council on 24 and 25 March.

The European Commission this week presented a document that includes "significant advances", largely driven by Spain. Sánchez pointed out that, for the first time, the underlying problem of this crisis is being addressed: Due to the price formation rules of the current market, the electricity market suffers from the "contagion effect" of natural gas prices.

The president of the Government of Spain pointed out that there is already a broad consensus among Member States that converge towards the Spanish position on the need to intervene in the energy market.

Spain has an energy mix in which 45% of electricity production comes from renewable energies, which are highly competitive, cheap, clean and guarantee energy autonomy.

Spain, with a diversified supply, with Algeria and the USA as the main suppliers, does not depend on Russian gas, from which our country imported only 8.7% in 2021. Spain will not be affected by the lack of supply as it has 6 of the 24 regasification plants in Europe, although Spain is already affected by the rise in energy prices due to the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on international markets.

Raw materials and their impact on food prices were also discussed. Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, maize and livestock feed grains. Therefore, at Spain's proposal, the EU27 have asked the European Commission to present options to address rising food prices and the problem of global food security as soon as possible.

"We defend the need to act together to maintain Europe's competitiveness and technological leadership and to reinforce open strategic autonomy," stressed Sánchez. For this reason, the EU27 stressed the need for public and private investment to address the challenges of the ecological and digital transition, but also to strengthen our security and defence.

On defence, Member States stress the EU's geopolitical importance and the need to increase investment in defence and innovative technologies and the need to boost joint capability development and acquisition. In this sense, Sánchez defended the need for the EU's strategic compass "to be truly operative, and to serve to confront current crises, such as the one in Ukraine, but also future crises of different kinds".

The humanitarian crisis of the Ukraine invasion

The president of the Government of Spain stressed that "an important success has been achieved: The quick war that Putin wanted has not materialised, because of the courage of the Ukrainian people fighting for freedom. But we must continue to support Ukraine in order to restore peace.

UNHCR puts the number of displaced Ukrainians at over 2.5 million. For this reason, Sánchez has shown the commitment and solidarity of the Spanish people and has guaranteed that Spain, a country committed to helping refugees, will continue to welcome Ukrainians fleeing the war in the centres for the care, reception and referral of Ukrainian refugees.

"This crisis demonstrates the importance of reaching an agreement on the Migration and Asylum Pact as soon as possible, underlining the balance between solidarity and responsibility", the president insisted.

The Heads of State and Government of the EU27 have agreed on a Joint Declaration demanding that Russia cease its military actions, immediately and unconditionally withdraw all military forces and equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine and fully respect the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.

Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the EU27 have adopted an unprecedented four packages of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, including financial, trade, individual and other air traffic or visa-related sanctions. The latest sanctions, agreed this week, include cryptocurrencies and restrictions on the Russian shipbuilding sector.

The leaders also discussed the formal applications for EU membership submitted by Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, which they consider "the best demonstration of the strength of the European project". On Ukraine, the EU27 recognised the country's European outlook and noted that "Ukraine belongs in the European family".

After the informal European Council and before returning to Spain, the president of the Government of Spain took part - together with a large group of European leaders - in a ceremony to commemorate the European Day for the Victims of Terrorism, organised by the French Presidency.

Non official translation