Statement by President of the Government upon arriving in Brussels

Brussels

President of the Government.- Good day. As you are aware, I will now attend a meeting of the European People's Party, as is habitual; they tend to always be held prior to European Council meetings. There are some important issues on the table, but I believe the most important, and the one that we will give most time over to, will be the matter of the "Brexit".

Today, in principle, we are going to hear out the British Prime Minister, Mr Cameron, who I imagine will explain to us the plans his government has. The most important thing for us to know is when the British Government intends to present its request to the European institutions to pull out of the European Union

As you are all aware, after this presentation is made to request the initiation of a procedure, the conditions under which it pulls out will be negotiated and, more importantly, the future relations between the United Kingdom and the rest of the European Union will be established.

In principle, until such time as this takes place, and the two-year period for these negotiations begins - it may be more, it may be less, but it is theoretically set at two years - it is very important to point out that all the rights that Spaniards hold at present, whether they be companies, workers, normal citizens or students, will remain in force, in the same way as those held by British citizens in our territory or by any European in any other place in the European Union.

Hence, in principle, there won't be any changes until negotiations have been completed and the new framework of relations between the European Union and the United Kingdom are established.

In view of these negotiations on the future, I simply want to point out two things now: firstly, we hope that no-one intends to retain what they want from Europe and dispose of what they don't want from Europe; that is the only thing I will say about the matter at this time. The second thing I want to say is that Spain will defend two things: firstly, the rights of Spanish citizens in these negotiations, as is our obligation, logical and to be expected, and as I imagine everyone else will do - when I talk about citizens, I also mean students, workers, business leaders, investors, etc. - and secondly, that Spain will continue to support greater European integration, because we believe that the solution to this situation that has taken place lies in greater European integration.

This is a project that has been in existence for more than 50 years now, which has worked very well, which has created a space for liberty, democracy, human rights and, above all, economic and social progress, and which the Spanish people fully support as far as we are able to.

Q.- President of the Government, Mr Rivera and Mr Sánchez are also here in Brussels, and Mr Rivera has just stated that he doesn't want anything to do with a government headed up by you. How will you manage things in the end?

President of the Government.- I am not going to get into discussions or arguments on this. I believe that any talks on any potential negotiations should be carried out without any pressure and without them being constantly aired in the media, with all due respect.

What I want is to see a government and for this government to be swiftly formed, because we have only had an acting government for the last seven months and a great deal of time has gone by without presenting draft bills to Parliament. There are many decisions out there to be taken. I would like to see a government with the broadest possible parliamentary support, because there are important decisions to be taken and issues that need to be tackled, in which Spain has a great deal at stake; for example, the issue we are talking about here, of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union.

Hence, I believe that everyone should remain calm and I believe that the parties should talk. I claim the right to govern, because we have won the elections with more than 2.5 million votes more than the second largest force. I would like to form a strong coalition for the next four years but, if the other political forces don't want this, then I hope that they will at least allow the winning party to govern, albeit in a tough situation because having to return to the ballot box as a result of someone slamming the doors shut would be a foolish act that would not be forgotten in Spain for many years to come.

Hence, I hope that we apply common sense, that reason can prevail, that people take heed of what the Spanish people have said and that, henceforth, we can concern ourselves with the problems of one and all.

Thank you very much.