The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU began on 1 July 2023.
The Presidency has now published its full programme, which is available here . Spain is the first in a trio of Presidencies set to also include Belgium and Hungary and the Trio programme is available here .
Spain commences its Presidency with the determination to improve the lives of all Europeans and the commitment to reindustrialize the EU, promote the ecological transition, equality and guarantee its Open Strategic Autonomy.
During the semester that runs until December 31, the Spanish Presidency will work to carry out a large number of open administrative files in the area of health, electricity market reform, review of tax governance rules, responsible digitisation and a greater deployment of renewable energies.
With the aim of reindustrializing the EU and guaranteeing Open Strategic Autonomy, the Spanish Presidency will work to attract new companies and jobs to European territory, in a context of geopolitical, technological and environmental changes that are an opportunity to reduce excessive dependence on third countries in areas such as energy, health, digital technologies and food. In addition, a common strategy will be designed to guarantee the economic security and global leadership of the EU by 2030.
The Spanish Presidency also considers that halting climate change and environmental degradation is a legal and moral obligation for Europeans, as well as an opportunity to reduce dependency on energy and raw materials. To this end, it will promote a reform of the electricity market that accelerates the deployment of renewables and expedites the processing of the pending legislative files of the “Fit for 55”.
For the semester of the Presidency of the Council of the EU, Spain has adopted a Sustainability Plan, in line with the 2030 Agenda, which includes six commitments to take into account in the different meetings and meetings that are held.
The first three are the promotion of sustainable transport and low emissions; rational use of energy resources; and sustainable, healthy and local catering services.
The other three contemplate the reduction of waste to favour the circular economy; the commitment to inclusion, equality and universal accessibility; and the transparency and publicity of the plan itself.
For the priorities of the Spanish Presidency, please see here.
For more information, please see here.