Voorzitterschap officieel aan Spanje overgedragen (en)

The Swedish minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, today formally handed on the baton of the rotating Presidency of the EU to the Spanish prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero i, at an inaugural gala at which both spoke of the decisive moment which Europe is going through and the need to live up to the expectations which it raises.

‘The baton of the Presidency is not only going to pass from my country, in the north, to your country, in the south of our Europe… it is passing from one era of European integration to the next,’ Bildt said (referring to the Treaty of Lisbon which came into effect at the end of his country’s Presidency) in the opening speech of the gala held at the Palacio de Oriente in Madrid.

Both Bildt and Zapatero, who spoke afterwards, emphasised the EU’s potential with its 500 million citizens, its social model, its democratic values and its successful history of integration.

But they also insisted that, as Zapatero put it, the EU is faced with ‘serious problems and significant challenges’, beginning with the economic crisis and its principal manifestation, unemployment.

The challenges which must be faced up to are ‘enormous’, Bildt went on and reminded those present: ‘We have not made the progress with regard to economic development which we had promised a decade ago. Many have been left behind... We must not pass on this burden to the future. EU 2020 is our new horizon.’

Europe must continue to lead the fight against climate change, against poverty and, according to Bildt, show the world the way to sustainable globalisation.

Furthermore, Zapatero emphasised, with the new instruments which the Treaty of Lisbon gives it, Europe can take part in ‘shaping the new multi-polar order’.

‘We have, perhaps, turned into the world’s most significant potential partner when it comes to tackling the challenges of the future,’ Bildt said, and added, ‘I have used the term ‘potential’ deliberately, because the EU has to respond to expectations.’

Bildt and Zapatero expressed their belief that the EU will pass the test as it always has, strengthening integration and union between its members.

We are passing on the baton to President Van Rompuy i, to the High Representative, Mrs Ashton i, and to you,’ Bildt concluded in Spanish.