Pedro Sánchez advocates supporting multilateralism and international solidarity to tackle major global challenges

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

Entitled "Europe, the UK and Spain: the challenging road ahead", the President of the Government addressed the future of post-Covid Europe, relations between Spain and the European Union with the United Kingdom post Brexit, and advocated supporting multilateralism and international solidarity to tackle the global crisis. "I continue to trust in this pandemic leading to a fundamental leap towards international cooperation that lasts for generations", he said.

Pedro Sánchez declared that Europe should continue to head up the response to the major challenges of our time and underlined the "decisive" role of the EU in the fight against the pandemic and the mitigation of its socio-economic impact. Specifically, he highlighted the "coordinated response" by the Commission to develop and procure vaccines in "a safe and effective fashion in record time". The President of the Government also highlighted the agreement reached between the EU-27 on the "Next Generation EU" recovery fund - an important package to bolster Spain, he explained, which will be used to achieve the ecological transformation, the digital transition and to reduce inequality

Universal and supportive vaccination

The President of the Government recalled the "devastating" effects of the pandemic in other parts of the world, such as Ibero-America and Africa, and called to step up collaboration to guarantee affordable and fair access to the vaccines. "No-one will be safe until we are all safe. This not only means ensuring that everyone is vaccinated in Spain, but also in the rest of the world", he remarked in the debate with the Director of the LSE; Baroness Minouche Shafik. Pedro Sánchez highlighted several initiatives in which Spain is participating to this end, such as the ACT-Accelerator and the Solidarity Plan for Universal Access to Vaccines, approved last month by the government.

Relations with United Kingdom

The President of the Government argued that Spain trusts that it will continue to have "strong relations" with the UK in the new post-Brexit era, guided by "pressing issues" that require close collaboration, such as the fight against COVID-19 and climate change. He also underlined that as well as close trade and business ties between the two countries and the overlapping nature of our societies, Spain is one of the leading destinations for British residents, as is the UK for Spaniards.

"The potential of our relations in clear", he said, encouraging working together on a new partnership.

Non official translation