De zes maanden van het Spaanse voorzitterschap (en)
The Spanish Rotational Presidency, along with all the other European institutions, has managed to introduce the “new economic and political direction desired by EU citizens for this Europe of the 21st Century,” said the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, this Wednesday.
Moratinos presided over the presentation of the evaluation of the six-month Spanish EU Presidency, to representatives from the business world, the unions and the University, as well as NGOs and other organisations of young people, women and the disabled with whom the Spanish Presidency has worked.
In the last event of the half-year, the Minister assured them that the Spanish Presidency will be remembered as being the presidency that “placed the first milestone for European economic unity,” in reference to the creation of an economic government to improve the co-ordination of member states in times of crisis.
“We have our route marked out, and it can not be said that forming an economic government is the idea of one country or another," but that "it is something that is necessary and urgent, and which has been approved by all 27 member states,” he stressed.
The event was also attended by the Minister of Education, Ángel Gabilondo; the Minister of Culture, Ángeles González-Sinde; the Minister of Justice, Francisco Caamaño; and the Secretary of State for the European Union, Diego López Garrido.
Mr. Caamaño stressed that “the Spanish programme for Justice and Home Affairs is very ambitious,” and he emphasised the elements that, in his opinion, “have marked not only important juridical and institutional advances, but have also marked how we define our countries.
According to the Minister, in these six months a lot of progress has been made not only in sensitive security matters, but "also in terms of freedom,” giving as an example the interchange of banking data with the USA (Swift).
The Minister of Education was pleased that the matter he is responsible for has been included among the five objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy, together with employment, innovation, climate change and social integration.
“We believe that education should be at the centre of the economy, and that it should permeate all other strategies and objectives,” he said.
The Minister of Culture maintained that the Spanish Government's strategic priority throughout the semester can be summarised in one sentence: “to place culture at the epicentre of the continental production model.” According to her criteria, major steps have been taken in this direction.
The Secretary of State for the EU, Diego López Garrido, remarked that “the Presidency does not finish today,” but in a year's time, in terms of the new co-operation scheme with the next two presidencies, those of Belgium and Hungary