The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, just presented the main priorities for the upcoming Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, due to assume on 1 July 2023. The four priorities are: promoting the reindustrialisation of Europe, moving towards ecological transition, consolidating the social pillar and strengthening European unity.
From the starting points of the financial and inflation crisis, the war in Ukraine and the upcoming European elections, we can expect the Spanish Presidency to be fully rooted in the most topical themes for Europe.
The well-being of citizens also gained prominence: “wages, jobs, gender equality and the freedom they will have in the future,” said Sánchez, who pledged to guide the Spanish Presidency with “the main concerns and demands of our fellow citizens” in mind.
To the greatest regret, nothing explicit was mentioned on education and training but we can expect lifelong learning to gain prominence as an integral part of the third priority – consolidating the European Pillar of Social Rights.
The Spanish Presidency is also expected to call for an appropriate revision of the multi annual financial framework from 2021 to 2027 and for a reform of fiscal rules that will allow Member States to keep public finances sound while adequately financing public services and green transitions as well as the digital transformation. LLLP has long demanded such a reform, with the objective to disentangle public investment in education and training from deficit/GPD calculations.
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