Press conference by President of the Government during Informal Summit of Heads of State and Government of the European Union

Valletta, Malta

President of the Government.- Ladies and gentlemen, a very good afternoon and thank you very much for attending this meeting. As you know, this meeting we are holding here, in Malta, of the European Council is framed within the process of reflection on the future of the European Union that began at the Bratislava Summit back in September and which will culminate, as you are all aware, at the Rome Summit on 25 March, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of the European Economic Union.

The aim of this reflection process which, I repeat, began in Bratislava, and will move on to Rome on 25 March, is to identify the main areas in which the European integration process must make progress and the second main aim is to push through specific measures to the benefit of European citizens. We have spoken about all of this in the morning and we will continue to do so after this press conference and those being held by my colleagues.

At the first working session we tackled the migratory crisis; as you know, this is an urgent challenge of key importance for Europe as a whole. You will also remember that here, in Valletta, in 2015, we held an historic summit between the European Union and Africa, at which we agreed on an action plan to tackle the migratory crisis in line with the following principles: political dialogue with countries of origin and transit of the migratory flows, development cooperation, the fight against mafias, effective return policies and border control.

This was the policy that Spain had been advocating to the European institutions for some considerable time now; this was the policy that had been implemented in our country - with good results, I believe - and this was the policy that we would have like to have seen applied earlier but finally, here in Malta, it was implemented in 2015. The goal was to resolve the problem at source; the goal was to help those people living in these countries through major cooperation support, to jointly fight the mafias, to control the borders and to facilitate return policies.

And today we have spoken about these same policies, we have all reiterated our support for them, we have also given our conformity, and we have continued to urge the European Commission and Vice-President Mogherini to continue working on them in the future, and we have paid close attention to what is happening at this time in the Central Mediterranean. As you know, in 2016 no less than 181,000 people arrived in Italy from Libya, before moving on to other countries in the European Union.

I expressed my position. I believe that in the case of Libya what is fundamental, the first issue, the basic and key priority - the starting point without which it will not be possible, or at least it will be very difficult, to resolve the problems - is for Libya to have a stable government with which to negotiate; a government, logically, that is capable to imposing its decisions. To achieve this, the European Union will need to help and support it.

A meeting was held yesterday between the Italian Administration and the current Libyan Government, at which they reached an agreement, which we hope will serve to ensure that in the future the same things don't happen as in 2016, a dramatic year, above all, due to the number of people who lost their lives attempting to leave in search of a better life.

During lunch, we principally spoke about two issues: Ukraine and the US Administration, and the way in which we should focus relations between the European Union and this new administration.

As regard Ukraine, we are all concerned by the deterioration of the situation in this country in recent days and we maintain that the Minsk Accords should constitute the basis for a political solution that respects the territorial sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine.

Secondly, as I pointed out earlier, we have spoken about how to approach relations between the European Union and the United States Administration. These relations should be marked by several principles: the first being an effort to maintain the best possible relations with the United States. We share principles, values, democracy, liberty, respect for human rights; we have been strategic partners for a long time now and we must continue to be so in the future. Hence, the European Union wishes to maintain the best possible relations with the United States.

The European Union proposes identifying areas of common interest where we can work closely together with the new administration. To give you an example, which I am sure you can easily appreciate, one of these areas of common interest where we can work together is the fight against DAESH terrorism.

We are going to defend the European identity and cohesion at all times. Europe must speak with one clear voice that is committed to the values that enshrine the European project. We have a policy on immigration and on taking in refugees, that I briefly referred in summary a little time ago. This is our policy and we are clearly going to apply these values in the future because we are committed to them.

The same applies to the case of free trade. Each of us can view things however we may deem fit and opportune, but the European Union believes in free trade and in how we should continue to negotiate free trade agreements. We would like to see the agreement we have been negotiating for some time with the United States to prosper, but we will work to also push through other free trade agreements with other countries, such as those of MERCOSUR or such as the renewal - because they are now somewhat antiquated - of the free trade agreements we have with Chile, which I believe date back to the year 2000, and with Mexico, which is from 2002. I had the opportunity to talk about this matter with the President of Mexico two or three days ago when we spoke on the phone.

I will now try to explain to you, without going on too long - this is an issue that it is really worth taking time talking about, because it is very important, but let's see if I am able to sum it up - that which I will advocate in the meeting that will start in just a few minutes.

We are living in difficult times in the European Union. Some strange events have taken place, to say the least. We have the issue of Brexit on the table which, quite simply, is the first time in the history of the European Union that a country has expressed its interest in leaving, while the only things that have taken place since the European Union, and before that, the European Economic Community, etc, was set up, have been declarations by countries of their interest in joining the European institutions. Brexit is something new for us.

We have also heard, and let's see what this turns into in the future, the position of the United States Administration. We can all see that in many important and relevant countries of the European Union there are political forces that have a broad base of support, as we are seeing more frequently, that hold positions against the European Union, and the issue now is, as I said before, it started in Bratislava, continues today in Malta and then in Rome - for some countries, such as our, last week, specifically on Saturday in Lisbon - the issue now is how Europe is going to approach this, both at present and in the near future.

The position that I am going to advocate is as follows: we, in response to those who criticise and vilify what the European Union represents and means, I believe, should feel very proud, and thus convey this to public opinion, of what the people of Europe have achieved together, of what we are together as Europeans and also of what we want to be in the future which, at the end of the day, is what is most important. But we should recall, in response to those who see nothing other than negative things in the European Union, that Europe has achieved, through this process of unity, the greatest period of peace and prosperity in the history of our continent. 60 years have gone by since the Treaty of Rome and Europe has been a space for peace; in the 60 years prior to the Treaty of Rome, Europe, among other things, went through two world wars.

We have managed to become the region of the world - I repeat, region - with the most democracy, the greatest respect for human rights and for the rule of law. We have the most extensive Welfare State that provides public systems of social protection (education, healthcare and pensions) that are absolutely unimaginable in other parts of the world.

We are the leading trading power and the largest marketplace in the world, and we are also the leading economic power. We are a great regulatory power: the standards and regulations that we decide on between us all become international standards. We are also a great cultural and tourist power, as evidenced by the constant streams of people visiting us each year: no fewer than 75 million people visited Spain in 2016. And we have an undisputable pulling power: there are a great many countries that see our Union as a model of peace, democracy and well-being that they would like to attain.

Hence, what I am going to defend today is that Europe, its leaders, those who believe in it, the governments that have committed to it, the public opinion that has done so as well, should defend, teach and explain why we must all maintain this, improve it and extend the most ambitious political operation carried out in the world in centuries.

Aside from that, in addition to explaining what we have achieved together and what we are, it is very important for us to be able to propose what we are going to do in the future and do this well.

I am principally going to propose - I will do this here and I will also do this with a view to the meeting in Rome, and the Declaration that we hope to approve there - two goals as a nation: the first, to continue concerning ourselves, because that is why we have governments and that is also why the European operation has been undertaken, with the issues that most worry out citizens as a whole and to try to ensure that European institutions are more effective than they have been thus far.

There are some issues that are a priority and these are the issues that most concern the majority of European citizens: firstly, the issues of refugees and immigration on economic grounds; secondly, internal security - Europe has been very hard hit, as you are well aware, some countries in a truly dramatic fashion, in recent times - thirdly, external security and, fourthly, economic growth and job creation, which moreover, if we are successful in this operation, will allow us to maintain and improve these pillars of the Welfare State that I mentioned earlier.

Specifically, there are four issues which, as was mentioned in Bratislava, will merit our attention in the near future: the Juncker Plan, which has increased its global amount; extending the internal market; trade policies - in the end, as I said before, trade policies, the opening up to countries abroad over the course of history, and this is extremely clear in the case of Spain, has shown to be successful in ensuring growth, in creating jobs and in effectively fighting poverty, which is why I said earlier that we should improve our trade agreements with Chile and with Mexico, and also setting up the agreement with MERCOSUR is another priority - and lastly, the other main priority in the area of economic growth and job creation is focusing on youth unemployment, which is very high, above all in some countries, in relation with the rest of people that make up societies.

Hence, this must be the first main goal for the future, to continue concerning ourselves, albeit more effectively, with those issues that truly concern our citizens, because this is also a way to convince people of the usefulness of the European project.

The second goal, Spain will obviously continue to support and commit to greater integration in the European Union. This is very important because this - the commitment to integration - clearly offers security and certainty if this is done, as we intend, by all of the countries in the European Union here today and, above all, with a an eye on Rome.

On economic matters, we are in favour of continuing to extend the Single Market - there are two or three key issues, but I will mention just two: the Digital Single Market and the Single Energy Market - on continuing to work, and we are already doing this at this time, on strengthening a European defence policy and on trying to share the capabilities of different countries; and thirdly, we must further integrate our positions on the issue of security. Nowadays, no-one would seriously consider fighting terrorism by themselves. This is a battle that all of us who are likeminded and defend the same values must fight together.

There are undoubtedly many other issues, I won't go into them in detail but, I repeat, I believe that in the future these are the two main concerns we should attend to.

The message, in short, that I believe we should convey, and I am convinced that this will take place in Rome, at the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the European Economic Community, is that Europe is united, that we wish to remain united in Europe, that we want to see further integration in Europe because that is what is best for us, as it has been very useful to date and that there is no better alternative for the future.

Lastly, I wanted to make a quick remark about the meeting I held this morning, at her request, with the British Prime Minister, Theresa May. I chatted with her, because that is what she proposed, on the process of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. I have asked her to ensure a speedy process. There is nothing worse than being in a situation of uncertainty, and this is only exacerbated if accompanied by uncertainty because this generates a great deal of insecurity, instability and, in this case, would affect us all. Hence, a speedy process and for us all to adopt a constructive approach: the European Union obviously, but the United Kingdom as well.

I also said that for Spain it would be a priority to maintain the level of human and trade levels between our two countries. In reality, you are well aware of our relations with the United Kingdom: it is our third largest trading partner, the country in the world to receive the largest Spanish investment and there are many Spaniards working in the United Kingdom.

Let me give you a figure, which is certainly significant: the report presented by the British delegation speaks about European Union citizens that live in the United Kingdom. The leading country is Poland: more than 900,000 Poles reside in the United Kingdom; second, Romania, with more than 200,000; third, Portugal, with more than 200,000; fourth, Italy, with close to 200,000; fifth, Lithuania, also with close to 200,000; sixth, France, with well over 100,000; seventh, Germany, and eighth, Spain, with a little over 100,000 Spaniards, according to the British sources, residing there. While here, in Spain, there are more than 300,000 British residents living on a permanent basis.

This means that there is clearly a very important relationship between Spain and the United Kingdom, and also between other European Union countries and the United Kingdom; hence, this process must be carried through with generosity, with intelligence and, if possible, as I said before, as quickly as we are capable of.

That, in essence, is what we have spoken about today: first, the issue of immigration, fundamentally of people from Africa, which is one of the great priorities of the European Union; secondly, at lunch we spoke about Ukraine and the United States Administration, and now, although this is an issue that we have spoken about in some of the speeches - I, in fact, did so, above all, at the lunch meeting - we are going to speak about something as important as where we are going and what we want Europe to be in the coming years.

Aside from that, I am available now to take any questions you may have.

Q.- President of the Government, I wanted to ask you in first place about Donald Trump. According to what you told us, it seems that you are in agreement at heart. I would like to know if you are also in agreement in the manner because, for example, his approach has been much calmer than the President of the European Council in his letter.

Secondly, I wanted to ask you about Catalonia. Last week there was talk that the government would be prepared to apply coercive measures in order to avoid a referendum being held, or a threat of a referendum. I wanted to ask you about what sort of coercive measures could be employed.

President of the Government.- As regards the second issue, the government has two priorities: to talk and to uphold the law. Clearly no-one would understand it - and even those who are proposing to hold an unlawful referendum cannot understand it - if the government violated the law in such a clamorous manner as would happen if we accepted their petition, and they know this. So, the government has many obligations, and the most important of these is to uphold the law and clearly not to violate it, above all knowing what it would be doing.

That is what concerns the government. We are going to talk but clearly we are all under an obligation to follow the law because, if not, we would not be in the European space; we would be at another level, ignoring the wishes of the majority and with each one deciding what they wanted to do, or not do, and by doing so, it would be impossible to live together in a reasonable manner.

So, that is the government's position and, aside from that, I am not going to get ahead of events or say what we are going to do or not do. What is important is for us to find a way to talk, and what is also important is for us to be aware that actions like this cannot be taken. A government and those people who are elected as MPs in elections in a democratic country simply cannot ignore the law. That is unacceptable and no-one should be forced, much less a government elected by the people, to also flaunt the law.

So, that is what I have to say on the matter.

In reality, one of the issues we talked about today is that this is the first time that we have met and spoken about this issue and hence, to date, no fixed position has been set by us all. But, in the end, I believe that what we have agreed today is very reasonable. There are people who may write or talk in a more or less forceful manner, but what is important here is to preserve our European identity. Europe defends its values, its principles, its history, that in which I believe but, having said that, we want to have good relations with the United States, as the citizens of Europe have always wanted to have. I believe that this is the most sensible course, I believe that this is the most reasonable position and that is what we are going to apply in the near future.

Q.- Regarding your meeting with [Theresa] May, I don't know whether she has asked for your cooperation in the negotiations but, what role do you believe Spain should play, bearing in mind that from what you have said we can deduce that you expect a certain European generosity in the negotiations in contrast to certain other governments that are saying they want to see a tough stance being adopted?

President of the Government.- The first thing I said to her is that Europe must be united in the Brexit negotiations. We are at a crucial time in the history of a political project, as we are seeing now, a project that began with six and now has 28 members, or 27 when the United Kingdom leaves. Hence, Europe must be united in these negotiations.

These negotiations will not take place on a bilateral basis, in the same way as bilateral trade agreements will not be negotiated with anybody. Free trade agreements are made with the European Union, because that is a power that has been assigned, and no-one can tell us with whom we have to make a trade agreement or not.

So, this will be a negotiation in which we will all be united and we will all offer our opinions to the European Council. This will be a negotiation carried out by [Michel] Barnier and I have told [Theresa] May what I think, because it makes no sense for me to say anything else - I am represented by Mr Barnier in the same way as the rest of the countries of the European Union, regardless, as you would expect, of us giving Mr Barnier our criteria and our opinions soon when the British Government presents its application to formally leave the European Union, because we have an upcoming European Council meeting at which, among other things, we will have to talk about the instructions to be given to the negotiating team. Hence, that is the most important aspect.

We told her that we are not going to start to negotiate until they make their formal application and then, we told her that we are interested, as you would expect and as is logical, in things being resolved in the best manner possible. No-one is interested in causing a fuss or any such thing; what we want is for things to turn out well and it is important that we all have this same interest. But we should also make things clear: the European Union will go to the negotiating table as a united front, we have a negotiator and we hope that things will be done well. That is exactly what I said to her, in the same way as I am telling you now.

Q.- President of the Government, after hearing certain pro-nationalist leaders in Catalonia saying for such a long time that "Spain is robbing us", which is what they have been saying for a long time now, I wanted to know what you think and what your opinion is of the 3% conspiracy, of the arrests being made and of everything we have been seeing going on in recent days.

In passing, you have also been invoking dialogue in Catalonia and I wanted to know something about the meeting you have pending with Mr Puigdemont, who told us that this will take place in the near future, if it is in fact pending, if a date has been set and if it will be in the coming days.

President of the Government.- No date has been set for this matter, but there have been some preliminary talks to see when we can meet up.

As regards your first question, I should not contribute to generating more tension than already surrounds this issue. I don't give my opinion on any issue in which the courts are involved, and I say this in relation to myself and to anyone else, that we must respect, if we want to have the rule of law with an independent judiciary, the decisions of the courts. So please allow me not to give an opinion on this matter.

As regards the matter of "Spain is robbing us", the other day I saw a statement - I don't remember from who exactly, but it must have been from an important political leader - which stated that he clearly did not share this criterion. This is absurd, this leads absolutely nowhere, it makes no sense and that is what we must try to avoid among all of us, and we clearly will not do this.

We will have our channels of dialogue and you should come to the meeting on regional financing because it is important. We have a channel of dialogue open with all of the regional governments of Spain on important issues and issues that are of interest to people, and I would like to see the Regional Government of Catalonia present there, talking about regional financing, talking about what we are going to do to maintain and improve the Welfare State… Talking about what the people feel is important.

Hence, I hope we can hold dialogue and that we are capable of talking but, I repeat, the most important thing is for a country like ours, a nation like ours, not to operate outside of the law as a result of decisions that are irresponsibly taken by some political leaders.

Q.- President of the Government, I would like to know whether you see Donald Trump and his policies as a threat to the European Union, as contained in the letter written by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk.

President of the Government,- We are on exactly the same issue as I spoke to you about earlier. Today we have taken a decision and I have explained to you the approach that the European Union will take in the near future, and I believe that this is perfectly understandable. Getting into an argument now about whether one word means this or that is, in my opinion, makes no sense, it doesn't help anyone and contributes nothing. Take away what is important and I have told you what is important - Europe will strongly defend its unity, its cohesion and its desire to integrate - I believe that this is very important - it will deal with the problems of its citizens and we will try to have the best possible relations with whomever wishes to have them with us. But, I repeat, we will preserve what is ours, what we think, what we believe and what we love.

Q.- President of the Government, given that you spoke with President Peña Nieto the other day, I was wondering whether today you have brought up the issue of Mexico and the situation in which it finds itself at lunch or at the meeting, and to what extent Spain can be the voice to the European Union regarding the current situation in Mexico.

I also wanted to ask you whether you spoke about the issue of Gibraltar at the meeting with the British Prime Minister.

President of the Government.- No. I listened closely to what the British Prime Minister said. I didn't speak about Gibraltar which, as you know, will leave the European Union and won't be subject to the EU acquis at the same time as the United Kingdom leaves.

But I did talk about Mexico. Fundamentally, I spoke about the need to strengthen this Free Trade Agreement. I hope that Mexico can continue to trade under conditions of normality. 80% of its trade is with the United States. This issue is hardly insignificant; it is very important for the country. And we are supportive for a variety of reasons: because we are have all sorts of ties with Mexico, the same as with other countries, that you are well aware of. Above all, we are bound by ties of affection, which, in the end, is the most important tie.

Hence, in the same way as they have made important agreements in favour of Peru, Colombia, and even Ecuador, not long ago, as President Correa reminded me the other day, I will try to ensure that those agreements you mentioned are pushed through, which is fully compatible with having normal relations with all those that wish to have them with our country and with the European Union.

Ladies and gentlemen, we will end now. Thank you.