President Sánchez receives the President of the European Council at the start of the Spanish Presidency

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, today received the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, at the Moncloa Palace. This Saturday, Spain assumed the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a great responsibility for a deeply pro-European country such as ours", said the President of the Government of Spain, stressing that Spain takes on this challenge with gratitude, humility and determination.

Pedro Sánchez stressed that, over the next six months, our country will be responsible for coordinating the debates and approvals of dozens of legislative dossiers, and he conveyed his desire to turn the Spanish Presidency into a useful tool to improve the lives of our citizens.

As the President recalled, priority dossiers will be those that help Europe to attract industries, modernise our economy and diversify our trade relations with the outside world. Thus, open strategic autonomy will be the backbone of the Spanish Presidency's action. "We will seek to expand the trade and investment ties that link us to Latin America at the EU-CELAC Summit, which we will hold in Brussels on 17 and 18 July", Pedro Sánchez stressed. Other priorities will include the green transition and all issues related to protecting the environment and improving people's quality of life, as well as the construction of greater social and economic justice in Europe.

It will be a Presidency marked by the consequences of the war in Ukraine and, in this context, the President of the Government of Spain told Charles Michel that during his trip to Kyiv this weekend, he was able to convey a message of unwavering support to the President of Ukraine on behalf of the EU. "Europe is called upon to play a pivotal role in the world, and we can only play it by acting on the basis of unity," he stressed, reiterating that reinforcing this unity will therefore be a priority objective of the Spanish Presidency.

Non official translation