Warns of the “real” threat that “ultranationalisms” come to power within the states of the Union
MADRID, May 9. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has advocated this Monday for a change in the way of making decisions within the European Union as more member states are added and go from the current unanimity to a “qualified majority”.
In an act in the Senate for Europe Day and the 72nd anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, Sánchez pointed out that all European states have the right to request accession to the EU and Spain “will always be in favour”, but at the same time He has warned that you cannot “play with efficiency” in the decision-making of the European Council.
In this way, he has asked to continue with the enlargement process and at the same time modify this process so that it is possible to “continue advancing” in an EU with more than 30 members without the need for a unanimity that he has described as “impossible” .
“We must decisively opt for a qualified majority and we have to be consistent, if we go to a union of more than 30 countries, we will have to modify our way of deciding the policies that we implement,” he defended.
UKRAINE COULD TAKE “DECADES” TO ENTER
Sánchez made these statements on the same day that the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, proposed the creation of a “European political community” as a space for cooperation in different fields in which States such as Ukraine, which share the values of the EU even though they are not part of it at the moment.
Macron has referred to the “legitimate aspirations” of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova to join the European Union. Even if Ukraine obtained the status of a candidate country for accession “tomorrow”, the process would last “several years or even decades”, the French president has indicated.
Sánchez has made this mention as part of a decalogue of improvement proposals for the EU, in which he has also included measures on energy, the fight against climate change, education, health and common defense, with an eye on the Presidency of the union, which Spain will hold in the second half of 2023.
REAL DANGER OF “ULTRANATIONALISMS”
On the other hand, Sánchez has called for a Europe that is closer to people and that “empathizes” with the demands of citizens, as well as with the current feeling of uncertainty and anxiety, and that provides an “effective” response.
The president has opted for this recipe and has warned about Europe’s enemies who are also “within” the member states, as he pointed out. He has thus referred to the “ultranationalisms” that seek to “weaken” the continent and its shared values and pose a “serious real threat” that can come to power.
In this way, he has pointed out that the results of the last elections in France should “alert us” about the growth of these ultranationalisms and the “divisive” rhetoric that, in his opinion, try to impose agendas that are “at the antipodes ” of the ideals and spirit of the EU, given that its sole objective is to “break the consensus” that has been forged during decades of European construction, as Sánchez has indicated.
Along these same lines, he has indicated that this must be done by “closing social gaps” that European society still suffers as a result of the financial crisis of 2008 and a “wrong” response on the part of the union and also of the crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic, which has “enlarged” these inequality gaps in Spain and throughout Europe. “We must put citizens at the center of European politics,” she has settled.
