01/07/2010
The Spanish Presidency of the Council in the first half of this year enabled Europe to maintain its political momentum even during the most pressing moments of the crisis, stresses José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, President of the Government of Spain, in an exclusive interview for this website.
Mr President, the Spanish Presidency is concluding after six months marked by the enforcement of the Treaty of Lisbon and by far-reaching decisions to tackle the financial and economic crisis. What is your assessment of this period?
This has been a period of great importance for Europe in which it has been necessary to take firm action in two priority areas: the full and effective application of the Treaty; and the adoption of policies and measures necessary to tackle all aspects of the crisis. This has been a period in which steps have been taken with the highest possible level of coordination between European institutions and all member states of the European Union and in which measures have been adopted that were unthinkable just a few months ago regarding both the bail-out of Greece and the adoption of a European Stabilisation Mechanism worth 750 billion euros.
The highlights of this six-month rotating Presidency include the fact that it would have been much more difficult to tackle the new challenges without the Treaty and that the principle of shared responsibility is working adequately at all levels. Over the course of these months, it has proved to be of fundamental importance for the Presidency to reinforce the image of European unity and its capacity to inspire confidence and generate stability.
How has your country succeeded in fulfilling the four priorities on which were based the Presidency programme?
Regarding implementation of the Treaty, our Presidency has fully supported the new institutions of the President of the European Council and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and has always acted with full respect for the new institutional balance established in the Treaty. This has not been a time for individual supremacy or leadership but rather for joining forces and assuming responsibilities.
Regarding economic issues, we have needed to take decisive action through both the adoption of measures with a very short-term impact while, at the same time, foster significant reform processes for the medium and long term. Therefore, it was decided at the last European Council to publish the results of the stress tests performed on the banks as a measure for immediate application, and approval was given for the Growth and Employment Strategy as a large-scale programme of reforms within the European Union. I believe that, in these six months and with the help of the institutions and the member states of the European Union, the Spanish Presidency has managed to make Europe a credible example for counteracting the crisis.
Finally, as regards the other two major areas on which our Presidency focused (external relations and extension of the rights and security of our citizens), the Presidency has achieved positive results from all the summits that took place, particularly from the summits with Latin and Central America, and has launched important proposals regarding sensitive topics such as the eradication of gender violence or the anti-terrorism strategy.
With the help of the institutions and the member states of the European Union, the Presidency has managed to achieve widespread compliance with its programme and this has enabled Europe to maintain its political momentum even during the most pressing moments of the crisis.
Could you comment in more detail on the coordination of economic policies?
From the very start of its six-month Presidency of the European Union, Spain has made the need to strengthen the coordination of economic policies in Europe a top priority; indeed the economic events of recent months have only confirmed this need. Therefore, as holders of the rotating EU Presidency, Spain has fostered and contributed towards the enhancement of economic governance through the following actions. Firstly, we supported the launch of the EU2020 Strategy, which represents a key step in the process of European structural reforms to achieve sustainable, inclusive and employment-generating growth. As holders of the rotating Presidency and as a member state of the Economic and Monetary Union, Spain has contributed to the coordinated European response to the international economic and financial crisis and to the sovereign debt crisis that has affected the European markets. Finally, Spain has actively collaborated on implementing the work of the Task Force presided over by Herman Van Rompuy, the goal of which is to improve budgetary discipline and provide more effective crisis management mechanisms.
How has the Presidency trio with Belgium and Hungary functioned?
The Spanish Presidency applied the spirit of the Lisbon Treaty even before it came into force by establishing a framework of cooperation with the two following Presidencies (Belgium and Hungary) that has translated into an 18-month programme and a common symbol for the first time in the history of the European Union. Spain understood that the idea of continuity for any project to be undertaken, now guaranteed with the new institutions of the President of the European Council and the High Representative, should also be reflected in improved coordination between the three rotating Presidencies. That was the core aspect of our cooperation with Belgium and Hungary. To date, the results have been excellent, both before and during our Presidency, and we also hope to effectively contribute towards the success of Belgium and Hungary over the coming months.