"We have managed to convert energy interconnections into a priority for the European Union" says Mariano Rajoy

European Council, Brussels

At the press conference given in Brussels following the European Council, Mariano Rajoy pointed out that the main results to come out of the Summit were the decisions adopted on the framework of action on energy and climate issues up to 2030. The President of the Government described them as "very positive, particularly for Spain" in regard to interconnections between Member States, which become "the focus of European energy policy" and a "priority issue for attaining an internal energy market".

"This not only resolves a fair claim made by Spain and Portugal but also lays the foundations for an energy union in Europe that seeks safer, cleaner and cheaper energy for our citizens and companies", he declared.

According to Mariano Rajoy, this will ensure that a situation which came to an impasse in the year 2002 can now be resolved and, for the first time, concrete steps forward have been taken in this respect. Firstly, "European institutions are now directly involved because this has been acknowledged as a European problem, rather than merely a bilateral problem", he stressed. The European Commission will take urgent measures to guarantee a minimum interconnection of 10% for 2020 and will periodically inform the Council with the aim of achieving an interconnection of 15% by 2030.

The President of the Government also pointed out that interconnection projects will be boosted in the Iberian Peninsula - including two already under way between Spain and France, one relating to gas and the other to electricity - and the Commission has been asked to present specific proposals to the Council to guarantee the financing of these initiatives.

Fight against climate change

According to Mariano Rajoy, another of the key issues at this summit was the European Union's position regarding the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conferences to be held in Lima and in Paris, at which the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be tackled. The Council agreed to reduce these emissions by at least 40% on 2005 levels by 2030, and has set a target of at least 27% participation by renewable energies as energy sources.

"As a result of these decisions, Europe takes on a clear global leadership role on climate change and sustainable growth in light of the upcoming international events, and Spain is satisfied with these objectives", he asserted.

Driving growth and employment

At an economic level, the President of the Government commented that, both at the Council meeting and at the subsequent meeting of the leaders of the Eurozone countries, the situation in Europe was tackled including "how to step up growth and job creation". Mariano Rajoy stressed that the latest figures corroborate that Spain "is growing and creating jobs" but could be prejudiced by the slower progress being made in other European Union economies, which constitute Spain's main trading partner.

For this reasons, he commented that the Council has pushed through measures to stimulate job creation, growth and competitiveness and has specifically supported the initiative from the new President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, "to mobilise 300 billion euros in public and private investment over the next three years". Mariano Rajoy added that steps are now being taken to help identify projects in the month of December and that there is already an inter-ministerial working group set up in Spain to this end.

Furthermore, he expressed his "absolute conviction that the European Central Bank will know what it has to do "to ensure that inflation stands at between 1.5% and 2%, which will also contribute towards growth and job creation.

Coordination to tackle Ebola

The Ebola crisis and the situation in Ukraine are the two main issues on which debate was focused at the meeting in Brussels. Mariano Rajoy described the Ebola epidemic as a "healthcare emergency of the first order", and advocated the need to take appropriate measures in each country and at a European level, but also in the countries directly affected.

The President of the Government explained that the 28 Member States have agreed to boost coordination and increase financial and healthcare aid. The Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, will be the European Ebola Coordinator; at a financial level, the European Union and its Member States, which have already committed some 600 million euros to this mission, will increase this amount to 1 billion euros.

As regards Ukraine, Mariano Rajoy declared that, as far as the European Union is concerned, the key is "to reach a political solution based on respect for territorial integrity and Ukrainian sovereignty". Furthermore, he underlined that the Member States have "made it patently clear that the call for elections by the self-proclaimed authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk have no validity whatsoever and any election results will not be recognised since they are illegal".

New European Commission

The President of the Government recalled that this Council meeting was the last one involving the participation of Herman Van Rompuy and José Manuel Durao Barroso as Presidents of the Council and Commission respectively. "Under their leadership, the European Union has made very significant progress in its integration process", stated Mariano Rajoy, in which regard both have shown themselves to be "great friends of Spain".

The Heads of State and Government proceeded to appoint the new European Commission, which is born "with a strengthened democratic legitimacy", according to Mariano Rajoy. "For the first time, its president had to be proposed in accordance with the democratic results of the elections to the European Parliament; this was then ratified by this Parliament which approved the new Commission by a huge majority", he maintained.

Referendum in Catalonia

In response to questions from journalists on the latest steps taken by the Regional Government of Catalonia to hold a referendum on 9 November, Mariano Rajoy reiterated that "the government's basic obligation, not of the Government of Spain, but of any government anywhere in the world, is to ensure that the rule of law is respected and the law of the land upheld".

He also stressed that the referendum announced for that date will not be held, "because this is what the Constitutional Court has said after the government complied with its duty", and that the "participation process" they are seeking to now organise has "no democratic guarantee" or "precedent in the democratic history of our country".

"I have given instructions to the State's legal services to analyse in depth each and every one of the actions taken by the Regional Government of Catalonia to try to implement this referendum", announced the President of the Government.