Media appearance by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, when exiting the European Council

Brussels (Belgium)

SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN, PEDRO SÁNCHEZ

Good morning; ...good evening, my goodness, it's 22:30!

Well, thank you very much to the media for attending this appearance and, as I always do, I would like to thank the diplomatic services for the work they are doing to ensure the success of this European Council, also from the perspective of the Government of Spain.

As you know, we have addressed two issues that are closely related. One is that of international politics, the international arena; and the other is that of competitiveness or, one might call it, economics.

On the international level, the international order is obviously changing. The pillars built on the ashes of the Second World War, pillars that have been governed by international law, by human rights and international humanitarian law or the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity, are, as you know, being called into question.

Yet some countries are trying to impose their law by force, the law of the strongest, and in so doing undermine and circumvent the UN Charter and all that we have worked for peace for eight decades. In short, almost a century of global peace is now under threat.

And if the most advanced countries are stunned, the most vulnerable countries are obviously in a very dramatic situation. They are shocked by the threats of the withdrawal of humanitarian aid, development cooperation and the devastating impact it will have on their lives, especially on the weakest.

Withdrawing this aid means things like taking away vaccinations from children under 5, stopping the supply of clean water to thousands of villages, leaving millions of people - including women and children in war situations - without support, and this is what we are talking about. This is the real impact on the lives of very vulnerable people who need the support of governments, this withdrawal of humanitarian aid and official development assistance.

In short, what I mean by this is that we are living in complex times, very difficult times for the multilateral order, a multilateralism that we must defend to the hilt more than ever. For all these reasons, I believe that it was essential, and I would also like to say a wise decision, to have the Secretary General of the United Nations here today, and Spain insisted that this meeting take place. As I have said on many occasions, the United Nations can count on Europe and, of course, on Spain's maximum commitment.

We have addressed, among other issues, the International Development Conference, which is going to take place at the end of June and the beginning of July in Seville, and we have stated that it is essential at this time for Seville to produce an ambitious, firm commitment on the part of the international community to improve the multilateral system in general and that of financing for development in particular.

At the same time, we have argued that Europe must raise its voice in the face of the flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law that we are seeing in the media, and act accordingly and coherently in defence of values that cannot be renounced and that define us as a civilisation.

Once again we have shown our full support for the Ukrainian people in their heroic resistance. As we have said many times, and I will not tire of repeating it to the media and to the Spanish people, we want peace, of course we do, nobody except a person like Putin wanted war, but we want a peace that is just, that is lasting, that is complete, that comes with sufficient solid and credible guarantees so that we are not once again plunged into a situation like the one we have been suffering for three years.

And that is why Spain has supported and supports, as I said earlier in the [inaudible] this morning, this Finnish proposal for a three-phase ceasefire of negotiation and also for a just and lasting sustainable peace backed by security guarantees.

From the recent Washington-driven talks, as far as we know, we can only conclude one thing, and that is that Putin is using delaying tactics to pursue his neo-imperialist aims.

We must therefore continue to press Russia to accept a comprehensive ceasefire, one that is durable, that allows for genuine peace negotiations and that also builds trust, a trust that is currently broken between Ukraine and Russia.

As I have said before, Ukraine's security and our security, Europe's security, are intimately linked. We have outsourced, or rather delegated, part of our security since the Second World War as Europeans and of our defence to other powers, and I believe that the time has come, as I have also said in the National Parliament, to strengthen it from the European Union, united as Europeans.

Today we have also talked about this, about the options presented by the European Commission, about our contributions in this 360-degree perspective of security and defence, and despite the logically existential importance for many nations and for the European Union of the eastern flank, from southern Europe, we have also insisted, out of coherence, on paying attention to the situation in our Mediterranean neighbourhood in Gaza, in Syria, in Lebanon.

What we in Spain do is, as we have done from the beginning, roundly condemn this atrocious and unacceptable attack against Gazan civilians, the death of hundreds of children, the blocking of humanitarian aid, the use of electricity cuts, of basic resources, for a simple question of humanity, which are absolutely unacceptable and of course contravene international humanitarian law, as the United Nations denounced when this type of practice began.

These flagrant violations of international humanitarian law prolong absolutely unbearable suffering, unimaginable for a people such as the Palestinian people, who need the solidarity of the international community as a whole.

That is why we continue to believe that we need to move towards a two-state solution because what is the alternative? Those who say they do not want a two-state solution, what alternative do they put on the table? mass deportation of Gazans?

We must logically support this two-state solution, support the reconstruction plan of the Arab countries as a whole, and therefore the European Union must continue working with the Arab countries and with its partners in the rest of the world to put an end to this absolute humanitarian catastrophe that we are experiencing in Gaza and also in the West Bank.

In short, Europe will continue, and must continue, to play a fundamental and leading role in the defence of the rules-based international order. We must courageously and decisively adapt to the new realities, while logically maintaining our essence.

With regard to the second of the axes, competitiveness, the economy, I believe that first of all it is important to recognise the new economic growth forecasts made by the OECD, the latest one, but also by other institutions, both national and international, on economic growth in Spain.

According to these forecasts, we will once again be the fastest growing advanced economy in 2025, in this complex international scenario.

We are also a clear example of decarbonisation, of social sensitivity and of economic growth that is absolutely complementary and that can go hand in hand with these two aspects: decarbonisation and social cohesion.

Indeed, we do not understand progress and development in any other way. Therefore, in the face of forces that use the Green Deal as a kind of scapegoat as if it were a brake on European competitiveness, the Government of Spain demonstrates that the 3C model of growing, sharing and caring (crecer, compartir and cuidar in Spanish) for the planet, is possible and is a model of success.

The data is there. Economic growth of 3.2% in 2024; 2.6% economic growth forecast for 2025 and all this in a context in which the OECD has lowered its economic growth forecast, at least for the eurozone, to 1% in 2025.

And this is also demonstrated by some data released today, which has just been published on foreign direct investment: in 2024 we received 36.8 billion euros of foreign direct investment. This is the second-highest record since 1993.

I believe that this has a lot to do with the confidence that Spain awakens, its stability, its economic growth, its competitiveness, the reforms that we have promoted and are promoting. In short, the economic policy of reform and transformation that we have been pursuing for the last seven years.

A key element of competitiveness that we have discussed today, as you know, is energy. You have heard me say it on many occasions, not only the commitment to green energies but also the infrastructures, the interconnections that obviously have to be developed to their full potential in order to develop this single energy market, which is undoubtedly fundamental.

We have also talked about the European drive for security and defence, which must serve to increase our competitiveness and innovation. Spain, I believe, has large companies and small leading companies in the security and defence sector, and this is a great opportunity for them too.

And, as you know, yesterday the Commission presented the White Paper on the future of defence, which was approved in the College of Commissioners. You know that funding is being proposed, there is also talk of a European public good. Ultimately, I am sure it will come out in the questions to talk about the same thing.

I think it is important to underline several elements of the White Paper which we particularly liked, over and above the discussions on what investments can be developed in the context of security and defence.

One is the section on partnerships with third countries beyond the European Union, including the United Kingdom, Norway, Turkey, India, New Zealand and others.

Two, the importance given to the training and qualification of people to work in the field of security and defence. I think this is very important because these are policies that we have also done in Spain during these seven years thanks to the NextGenerationEU funds. We have also mobilised vocational training, university education so that we are not only allocating these economic resources to the digital transformation and the ecological transition, but that we also have the necessary talent, the human capital, to be able to employ, to create companies, to create local development in these policies.

Finally, we closed the day by addressing, albeit in a very preliminary way, the debate on European budgets in the multiannual financial framework. As you know, our line is clear: we need resources commensurate with our common ambitions, which is Europe's time, since we are talking about 2%, why shouldn't we talk about 2% of an EU budget? Not only 2% of the defence budget but also a 2% EU budget if we are to meet all the debates and challenges ahead of us.

In short, in the face of uncertainties on the global stage, I believe that Europe is a certainty that we must continue to work on and strengthen, and Spain will always be on the side of the solutions, as we have been from the outset, with an unwavering commitment to the European project, to multilateralism, because that is how we understand our place in the world and our contribution in this complex context.

And without further ado, I will take questions.

Q.- Thank you, President. First of all, I would like to ask you: you came to the summit this morning, you said, with the intention of convincing the 27 to change the approach to this European defence strategy, which you said should not be summarised under the name of Rearmament so as not to overshadow other security capabilities that are also included in this plan. I would like to know if you have made any progress on that and if you can explain to us a little bit more what the point is of not calling the rearmament plan by that name when the content of much of that content does just that. For example, joint arms purchases are defended and these military capabilities are discussed.

Secondly, to know to what extent you believe that Spain's position is weakened or not when, while you are defending this European rearmament plan here in Brussels, this morning the Lower House rejected an initiative that called for support for this rearmament plan.

And lastly, on the general state budget. Today there are several reports suggesting that the Government is considering not tabling the budget if it does not have guaranteed support in Lower House. Can you confirm if this is the case and if you are optimistic about the accounts, thank you very much.

President: Well, thank you very much Guillermo. On your questions, first of all, on what I said this morning, I was quite blunt and clear. I don't like the term rearmament, it seems to me to be an incomplete approximation of the challenge ahead. Indeed, defence can only be explained under the much broader umbrella of security. And you have heard me say on many occasions, and I will also say it next week in the Lower House of Parliament, that the threats facing southern Europe are somewhat different from those facing eastern Europe: hybrid attacks rather than physical attacks by, in this case, invading troops in Ukraine.

And obviously the connotations and indirect implications that it has in countries in the east of our continent and in our case are more hybrid attacks; attacks that have to do with cybersecurity. We said it here at the last European Council when I had the opportunity to appear before you, that, in effect, what we have to do is improve our cybersecurity capabilities: the fight against terrorism due to the instability we have in the Mediterranean, or everything that has to do with the climate emergency and the civil protection response that is being given from - in this case, our Armed Forces and the UME, or satellite connections - or quantum computing, artificial intelligence, the implications it has on national security and beyond national security also the security of our citizens.

I think we need to educate people that right now, when we talk about security and defence, we are fundamentally talking about technology. We are talking about technology and in many cases we are talking about dual-use technology because the drones that can be invested in and manufactured on the European continent are drones that we can use in the event of a potential conflict, as is happening right now in Eastern Europe on the Ukrainian side, but we can also use them in firefighting or in the prevention of climatic emergencies.

By this I mean that there is a very substantial technological component when we are talking about security and defence in our country, and I must say that we feel - after first seeing the conclusions and the capabilities indicated in the Council conclusions of 6 March, which I had the opportunity to report to you at that press conference, after reading the White Paper and also seeing the Safe financial instrument, which the European Commission has implemented or proposed, or let us say, the fiscal rules, the escape clause - that we are reasonably satisfied with how the European Commission has taken up many of our demands and our approach, much broader than merely defence, which logically is related to what is happening in countries with which we show solidarity, which are the countries of the East.

That, mind you, has led us to call the financial instrument, Safe, not Rearm. It is called Safe as it has less to do with rearmament and more to do with protection and therefore I think it seems that it does not, but it is an important nuance that is close to how we see this issue.

On the General State Budget, I believe that the Minister for Finance and First Vice-President has already responded in Parliament. We are talking to the parliamentary groups, we are working with them, we are not giving up on submitting the General State Budget and what we are doing with them is working and seeing exactly what feasibility there is when it comes to submitting this budget.

In any case, I have to say the following: with the budget we have, which is the budget of a progressive coalition government administration, we are leading the growth of the main advanced economies, creating employment, responding to many of the social policies that are included in the investiture agreements that I signed with the parliamentary groups.

But I insist, we are not giving up on this issue and of course we want to approve the General State Budget and we are working with the parliamentary groups.

Q.- President, good evening. You insist that you don't like the word rearm. Many of your colleagues, however, believe that Europe needs to be rebuilt, and in a big way. You talked about Safe, but the package is called Rearm Europe. Do you think that Mrs von der Leyen made a mistake in giving it that name, did she go ahead, did she not consult in the way she should have consulted?

We are also aware that he will be going to China soon. What are the objectives of the trip and don't you fear that it might irritate both your EU colleagues and President Trump?

And if you will allow me, the last one. In the last Council you struggled, you tried to include a phrase "at a loss". Do you think that such a response to Europe has to include funds at a loss?

President: Yes, what are the (inaudible) transfers. Well, this is a debate that is still pending and we also believe that it is only fair to address it as we did with the NextGenerationEU funds.

I also explained last week when I was in Finland that these are not the transfers we are looking for in Spain. In this case, we understand that there are countries such as Finland, such as the Baltic countries, which are suffering this existential threat much more directly, and therefore Europe must show solidarity with them.

And in that context I framed it and of course it is a debate that we still need to have. In fact, we have had the first foray, the preliminary discussion on the multiannual financial framework, and I think this is going to be one of the issues that we are going to have to address in the coming months.

On China, I am indeed going on a trip to Asia, to Vietnam and China in April. First of all, I would like to recall that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the China-Spain Strategic Partnership. So it is a special year in our bilateral relations and that also justifies why I am going to visit China.

But beyond this anniversary, which is important and therefore marks the opportunity to make this visit, I believe it is important for Europe to build relations with other countries. The world is very big, we have always argued that Europe has to ally itself with many other powers and other regional blocs.

We have defended, for example, the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, we have also defended and worked for a renewed agreement between the European Union and Mexico or with Canada or Chile, as was achieved in the last mandate. We also welcome the fact that Ursula von der Leyen and the College of Commissioners went to India and that a Free Trade Agreement with India was set for the end of the year.

By this I mean that there are many opportunities that the European Union must take advantage of in this changing geopolitical context to place itself at the centre, because it is true that the international order is changing, that the rules are changing and that Europe must participate actively and why not take the lead, consolidating its position as a reference for a multilateral order based on the rules I mentioned earlier, international law, international humanitarian law and respect for territorial integrity?

We have also consolidated a relationship, which I believe is very good, very positive, not only in bilateral terms, but also for the European Union with the Middle East, and we are going to work actively towards understanding with the global South and particularly with a great power such as China.

I believe that we have many things to work on together and, of course, not only at the bilateral level but also at the level of understanding, whatever has to be achieved between the European Union and China, Spain will make a constructive contribution to this.

And on the term rearmament, again I insist, I do not want to talk about decisions that have already been taken. Of course, Spain feels much more comfortable, in this case, talking about Safe Europe, about this financial instrument, than simply underlining a dimension of the challenge ahead of us, which is not only defence, but also security.

I insist, of course, that we advocate that Europe must take a step forwards in improving its deterrence capabilities through greater investment in defence, but there is also a security component that cannot be overlooked because it is the reality of the countries of the South.

We have somewhat different threats and we all contribute to Europe's security. Everyone responding to the threats they have, well in their neighbourhood. We have a different reality, which is set out in the White Paper. When we talk about the Sahel, when we talk about the Middle East, when we talk about the delicate situation and fragility of the countries of the Mediterranean, we are talking about this, we are talking about a security vision that is certainly what we need for Spain and not only for Spain.

This issue has also been raised in many other southern European countries and, I insist, it is technology. It is not a vision that we have to have about security spending and traditional or classic defence spending because we are effectively at a time when technology is also defining right now what the course of the war in Ukraine is, and this obviously has an implication for what we must address from Europe and how we have to invest in Europe.

There is one aspect that is always left out but I think it is very important, and that is, one, not only the technological component, but the White Paper talks about consolidating an industrial and technological base in Europe. And therefore, there is talk of European preference, there is even talk of 65% of the components of this industry or of these defence investments being located in Europe. I think this is very important and this is discussed in the White Paper. There is therefore a clear commitment to European industry.

And secondly, something I said in my first speech: training and qualification of our human capital, whether employed or not, which can be relocated in these new investments, because we are indeed going to need this human capital and opportunities can be created both from the employment point of view and from the territorial point of view.

I see it as an opportunity, an opportunity to tackle the technological leap forwards that Europe needs and that Spain is in a position to lead. Therefore, I think it is very important not to have a classical view of defence investment, because having a classical view of what defence investment means today has nothing to do with it.

And something that Guillermo asked me and which I think is very important when talking about credibility and so on. I have said it before, we, I said it the other day in Parliament when I was asked about it, we, during these seven years we have increased the defence budget by 10 billion euros, we have increased the budget for social policies by 120 billion euros and we have increased the budget for ecological transition by more than 20 billion euros.

This is what we have done. Therefore, what we are going to do is to anticipate some of the objectives that we had set in this case for the year 2029, without detriment to the fact that we are not, of course, going to make any adjustments or social cuts.

And having said that, I think it is important, it is clear that with my partner in government - and when I say partner in government I mean Sumar, because it is my partner in government, I have Sumar ministers together with ministers from the Socialist Party - there has been a historic discrepancy in Spanish politics. The Communist Party had it at the beginning of democracy, Izquierda Unida had it with the NATO referendum, Podemos also had it, Sumar has it now.

Well, these are discrepancies that have traditionally, historically, existed in Spanish politics. But there are two things I am grateful for from my government partner in Sumar, one, that Spain's European commitments are respected - and this is a European commitment to contribute to the security and defence of our common project - and secondly, that we are going to continue with our social agenda and with social policies.

Therefore, there is a historical discrepancy that has nothing to do with Sumar or the Socialist Party, it goes back 40 years,

successive parties that have been representing this space to the left of the Socialist Party have made this clear. But it seems to me that the important thing is that these European commitments are respected and that we logically respect our commitments to continue with our social agenda.

Q.- Hello, how are you, good afternoon, President. I wanted to ask you about Trump's tariffs. Today the European Commission proposed a slight delay in the entry into force and what they say is that they want to discuss the list with the Member States. I wanted to ask you, Spain on that list, if you have a preference for excluding any US product because of the impact it might have, especially in the wine sector.

And at a national level, your government pledged to submit the budget, even if it did not have the support. Today it seems that this is not quite the case, that you have changed your position. I wanted to ask you if you will effectively give up submitting them in the event that you do not achieve the support or if you maintain that you will do so and in the scenario that you do not have sufficient support, what would be the scenario, if you believe that in that case, given that you do not have support - and today they have lost votes in the Lower House - it would be advisable to call an election, thank you.

President: Well, look, Irene, if I tell you that... please. Let's see, several things. Firstly, on the votes, because, of course, today there has been a rather regrettable vote on the result, which is that a very important measure to give prestige to and strengthen public health in our country, which is the State Public Health Agency.

I was the president of the Government of Spain during the pandemic, when I became president of the Government of Spain, and at the height of the pandemic, I found a system that was absolutely weakened, absolutely abandoned, absolutely fragile. No data was available on the evolution of infections in each of the territories. That is the situation we find ourselves in.

In record time, we strengthened the public health system, which has always been the "Cinderella" of the autonomous communities of the autonomous governments. And we strengthened it. We digitised the information to respond to the evolution of the pandemic and protect our citizens, we created a Parliamentary Commission in the Lower House of Parliament for the reconstruction of the pandemic, where we talked about the State Public Health Agency, an agreement of all the parliamentary groups.

It is very regrettable for me, as president during the pandemic, to see that government parties that have also suffered the pandemic in their own flesh from the institutions in 2020, 2021 and 2022, have voted against this agency, an agency whose sole purpose, I insist, is to strengthen the public health system of our country, the surveillance of public health in our country, out of a partisan calculation, not a logical or rational one, nor one that defends the general interest.

We are not going to give up trying, we are going to sweat it out, we believe it is absolutely irresponsible, which, by the way, is yet another symptom of destructive opposition and an opposition, in short, absolutely aimless, which votes yes in the committees, then votes no in plenary, well, that is what we have.

I think it has been more of a partisan calculation than a logical, rational and responsible one. With all that we have learned, in addition to a government and a parliamentary group that has of course taken on board many of the amendments in the parliamentary process that have been put forward by other parliamentary groups, including the main opposition party, which we have seen today has fallen... For what reasons, we do not know, certainly not the general interest.

And I insist, this state agency is a compromise, a conclusion that all the parliamentary groups agreed on in the Pandemic Reconstruction Commission. We are not going to give up, we are going to take it back to the Lower House of Parliament and we hope that it comes out and in that sense, Irene, of course we are going to sweat it out, as I have always said.

And you tell me, if not, the budget will be prorogued, without any doubt, because right now what we need is stability and what we need is to continue to pursue an economic policy that is providing companies, the Spanish economy and employment in our country and, of course, in Europe with a good basis.

I repeat, we account for 50% of economic growth in the European Union and 30% of new jobs created in the European Union.

On tariffs, I have said it on many occasions, nobody wants a trade war, in the end it is the working classes, the middle class, who suffer the impact of this trade war, and of course I think it is a gesture of goodwill on the part of the European Commission not to enter into a confrontation with the United States and to try to reach an agreement to overcome this potential trade war.

If it happens - you know the three criteria that I expressed at the previous press conference before you - Europe will have to respond united, it will have to respond proportionately to the tariffs that are imposed and it will have to respond quickly.

I believe that these are the three axes of the response that we have to give at European level.

And with that I thank you very much for coming to this press conference and I really wish you a good evening.

(Transcript edited by the State Secretariat for Communication)

Original speech in Spanish