Eurocommissaris Maros Sefcovic kijkt tevreden terug op het Spaanse EU-voorzitterschap (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Spaans voorzitterschap Europese Unie 1e helft 2010 i, gepubliceerd op maandag 31 mei 2010.

Spain has done "very very well" during its six-month Presidency of the European Union, a period of "enormous difficulties" due to the economic crisis, the Vice President of the European Commission and EU Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration, Maros Sefcovic i, said on Monday.

"I have never seen a Presidency that has had to cope with such difficult circumstances as the Spanish one", said Sefcovic during a breakfast talk held by the Europa Forum, where he was introduced by Spain's Secretary of State for the EU, Diego López Garrido.

Sefcovic pointed out that the Spanish Presidency has been responsible for putting the Treaty of Lisbon into action, and that it has been forced to "improvise a great deal", stressing that "Spain has done well”.

This Vice-President of the EC, a Slovakian socialist, gave an overview of the challenges facing the European Union in this new stage in its development, and said the first phase of the External Action Service will be ready to come into action by the autumn.

Sefcovic also said he was confident there would be general political agreement about the popular legislative initiative at the General Affairs Council in June, enabling it to be definitively approved to coincide with the first anniversary of the Treaty of Lisbon coming into force.

He also touched on the problems caused by the economic crisis, and when asked about the possibility of lowering or freezing EU civil servants' pay, he said "they will be treated in exactly the same way as in Member States".

Sefcovic, who is taking part in the 43rd Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the EU (COSAC) and held a meeting with the First Vice-President of the Spanish Government, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, said the economic crisis could serve as a "catalyst" to strengthen the Union, because "it has highlighted our shortcomings", although he added that, if the EU had not existed, the consequences would have been "devastating" for Member States.

In relation to the accession talks with Turkey, Sefcovic stressed that no countries would be allowed to join that did not meet EU criteria, particularly in the area of human rights.