Spanish ministers to present priorities for EU Council Presidency

Six ministers will make their first round of appearances at the EU Parliament on Thursday to present Spain’s EU Council Presidency, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected to do the same in October, official sources reported.

The presentation of Madrid’s priorities, including a Pact on Migration and the reform of the European electricity market, will take place throughout September and perhaps also in October, according to Spanish official sources as quoted by EURACTIV’s partner EFE.

On the agenda of the EU Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee this week is the visit by the acting Labour Minister and leader of the new left-wing platform Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, with which Sánchez’s ruling Socialist party (PSOE/S&D) aims to forge a future coalition government with the support of Catalan and Basque separatist forces.

Also scheduled to appear in the EU Parliament on Thursday are acting Social Security Minister José Luis Escrivá (PSOE) and the acting Social Rights Minister Ione Belarra of Unidas Podemos (United We Can/EU Left).

In any case, Thursday´s agenda will be hectic: the Spanish Minister for Culture and Education, Miquel Iceta, the Minister for Universities, Joan Subirats, and the Minister for Education and PSOE spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, are also scheduled to appear before the Parliament Committee for Culture and Education on the afternoon.

It is a long-standing tradition for every EU country holding the six-month presidency of the bloc’s Council to present its priorities “Ministry-by-Ministry”, usually done at the beginning of its European presidency.

In the case of Spain, which started its EU presidency on 1 July, this presentation has had to be postponed due to the campaign for the snap general election held on 23 July, which has produced an uncertain outcome.

Sánchez’s presentation also had to be postponed a couple of times due to a busy domestic political agenda.

The acting chief of the Spanish progressive executive is not scheduled to travel to Strasbourg until at least October so as not to coincide with the investiture debate of the leader of Partido Popular (PP/EPP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the main opposition force and the winner of the 23-July election although without a majority, scheduled for 26 September.

The rest of the presentations are expected to continue in the week of 18 September, after the EU Parliament’s plenary session that month, and could last until the beginning or mid-October, EFE reported.

(Laura Zornoza/EFE and Fernando Heller| EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)