​Mariano Rajoy affirms that Spain and France are "invaluable partners" in the process towards greater European integration

Élysée Palace, Paris (France)

At a joint press conference following the working lunch held at Élysée Palace, Mariano Rajoy and Emmanuel Macron underlined their intention to strengthen the already strong relations between Spain and France and to work together towards a more integrated European Union.

This was the first formal bilateral meeting between the President of the Government of Spain and the new President of the French Republic - whose election Mariano Rajoy defined as "a message of moderation, pro-Europeanism, stability and confidence" - which took place less than a week before the ordinary European Council meeting to be held on 22 and 23 June.

Pool Moncloa/Diego CrespoThe President of the Government of Spain recalled that France is Spain's leading customer and the second leading supplier and also highlighted the volume of trade exchanges and the number of French tourists that visit Spain each year. "We are sister nations, allies, neighbours and invaluable partners", he declared.

Mariano Rajoy expressed his interest in "stepping up bilateral relations, which are already good", and handed over an invitation from King Felipe VI to Emmanuel Macron to make a State visit to Spain. For his part, the French President announced that the next bilateral summit will be held in France at the start of 2018 (the previous one having taken place in Malaga on 20 February).

Europeans, in favour of greater integration

The President of the Government remarked that the meeting with Emmanuel Macron was "fruitful" and "beneficial" and that they both agreed on the key issues.

Firstly, Mariano Rajoy referred in his speech to the fight against terrorism, which constitutes "a top priority for the European Union" and "the main concern for the people of Europe". The President of the Government expressed his conviction that cooperation will be improved between the intelligence services, "one of the most effective instruments for defeating terrorism".

Energy interconnections through the Pyrenees was another of the key issues for Spain, explained Mariano Rajoy. "Progress has been made recently", he pointed out, but we would like the single energy market to truly become an authentic single market as soon as possible".

Pool Moncloa/Diego CrespoThe President of the Government stressed that Spain and France will also work together on the Mediterranean Corridor, on the directive on the posting of workers and on those issues related to asylum and immigration.

As regards the future of the European project, Mariano Rajoy claimed that "all of those who head up governments at this time, and the vast majority of European citizens, want to see a more integrated Europe". He specifically mentioned the need to push on with the common security and defence policy, banking union and the European Deposit Guarantee Fund. He also said now was a suitable time to start talking about fiscal union and a European Budget.

The President of the Government reiterated that the EU is one of the most important and successful initiatives ever and that the people of Europe - apart from the extremists from one side or the other, "who want to tear everything up, which will not get us anywhere" - support "a project that has proven to work, that has offered up results and that has a future".

Current affairs

When asked about a potential meeting with the leader of the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party], Pedro Sánchez, the President of the Government explained that, in the phone call he held when Pedro Sánchez was elected as the General Secretary of his party, they agreed to see each other "whenever necessary".

"On that occasion", he added, "he stated something to me that I had said previously and which I felt was important, not only for the government, but also for Spain and the Spanish people as a whole: that he would back the Spanish Constitution and defend national sovereignty".

Pool Moncloa/Diego CrespoFor his part, Emmanuel Macron remarked, in relation to the announcement by the Regional Government of Catalonia that it was going to unilaterally hold a referendum, that "this is a domestic issue" for Spain. "I only have one partner and one friend, which is Spain, Spain as a whole. I have a counterpart, and he is here by my side, and his name is Mariano Rajoy. That is all that concerns me", he stated.

In relation to the agreement reached on Thursday by the Eurogroup on the new bailout tranche for Greece, Mariano Rajoy described this as "very positive" and praised the "major effort" being made by Greece. The President of the Government added that it is necessary to swiftly resolve the situation of three experts involved in the Greek privatisation fund, one of whom is Spanish, who are under investigation, and for whom the European institutions are calling for immunity.