In Spain, the European rotating presidency shaken up by the elections

2023-06-30 13:45:45

It is a disappointment for the president of the government, Pedro Sanchez. With the early elections on July 23, the national political calendar is impacting the European agenda, while Madrid is preparing to take over the presidency of the Council of the EU on July 1. The socialist must give up his plans after his setback in the regional. “He had bet on this presidency to show the international importance of the country by the general elections, initially scheduled for the end of this year, all this will now be impossible”, assures Luis Bouza, lecturer in political science at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

Europe passed over in silence

The country had however gained in « influence » during European negotiations, in particular that which had allowed the Iberian exception to decouple the price of gas from electricity in 2022. But this time, Europe will not be the priority. It could even become taboo. «The People’s Party (PP) of the conservative right is very European, it is not he who is going to address the issue when he makes agreements with a far-right Eurosceptic”, love Luis Bouza.

For many observers, the Spanish presidency will pose no difficulty. «These presidencies are technical, very prepared and, in a country where the European consensus is almost self-evident, there should be no worries,” believes Ignacio Torreblanca, director in Madrid of the European think tank ECFR.

At the worst time

All concerns are not erased for all that. «This Spanish presidency is coming to the end of its European mandate, so the legislative agenda is piling up, and we were counting on Spain’s ability to negotiate to move things forward, in particular the reform of the Pact on Migration and Asylum », regrets Carme Colomina, senior EU researcher at the Barcelona Center for International Affairs.

Brussels cannot completely rule out the scenario where the extreme right of Vox is doing well. ” This partydoes not want to leave the EU but demands more sovereignty, as Poland defends”, says Steven Forti, associate professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and author of the book The Far Right 2.0. With a sufficient score, this training could become essential to the constitution of a conservative government, or even win ministerial posts.