Spain calls for the European Union not to backtrack on its climate goals by combining decarbonisation and competitiveness

Portoroz (Slovenia)

Group photo of the 12th Summit of the Southern European Countries (MED9) (Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has taken part in the 12th MED9 Summit, the informal discussion forum for the European Union member states most closely linked to the Mediterranean Sea: Cyprus, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain. At the meeting, held in Slovenia, the leaders discussed ways to boost European competitiveness and MED9 members' prospects for the next EU budget, as well as the situation in the Middle East at a working lunch with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

The President of the Government of Spain emphasised during the meeting that decarbonisation and competitiveness are two sides of the same coin, because the green agenda favours the strategic autonomy and security of the European Union. He also stressed the need to improve energy interconnections, and the importance of maintaining climate targets, as evidenced by the devastating effect of this summer's fires across much of the continent.

With regard to the Union's budget, Spain defended the importance of it being ambitious, allowing it to finance new priorities, such as security and competitiveness, without neglecting structural areas such as the Common Agricultural Policy and the Cohesion Policy.

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, attends the first working session of the 12th Summit of the Southern European Union Countries (MED9) | Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The summit's final declaration, in addition to incorporating these issues, emphasised the importance of deepening the integration of the single market, boosting the digital transformation, strengthening Europe's trade relations, continuing the process of enlargement of the Union and underlining the shared commitment to Ukraine.

At the working lunch with the King of Jordan, MED9 leaders recognised Jordan's key role in peace and stability in the Middle East and its essential role as a centre for humanitarian aid and for the reconstruction of Gaza. In addition, they stressed the importance of the implementation of all phases of the peace agreement reached last week in Sharm El-Sheikh. "What we want is for the ceasefire to be respected; secondly, for humanitarian aid to be allowed to enter Gaza, which is still not guaranteed, at least not as it was supposed to be; and finally, for us to be able to move towards the definitive solution, which is peaceful coexistence between two states, the State of Israel and the State of Palestine", said the President of the Government of Spain at the end of the summit.

Non official translation