Spanish EU Presidency kicks off
© European Union, 2010
From left to right: José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister the inaugural meeting of the Spanish Presidency of the Council
© European Union, 2010
José Manuel Barroso, President of the EC on the Communication to the Spring European Council on Europe 2020
The new decade kicks off with Spain taking over from Sweden the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and carrying out this responsibility for the fourth time in history. Spain is asked to offer political leadership at a period when the EU needs to adjust in the new institutional setting of the Lisbon Treaty and offer policy responses to areas that touch Europe’s economic growth and jobs. So how do the areas of innovation, research, energy and climate change fit in all this?
It should come as no coincidence that Spain’s programme - Innovating Europe - attaches particular emphasis on policies of education, R&D and innovation in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and generate quality jobs as a way out of the economic crisis. Strengthening the prospects of a European Research Area and promoting innovation in all its facets will be two cross cutting parameters of the Presidency. With respect to energy, it is envisaged that a new 2010-2012 Action Plan will be approved in order to promote diversification of energy sources and the implementation of a common market. In the area of climate change, the Spanish Presidency will use the outcomes of the Copenhagen Summit as a basis for further regulatory proposals.
The priorities of the Spanish Presidency are expected to gain momentum with the launch of the European Commission’s Europe 2020 strategy which confirms the target of the EU to invest 3% of its GDP to R&D and the need to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. “Resource efficient Europe”, is one of the flagship initiatives which aim to make Europe stick to the 2020 objectives of the SET plan, where fusion is also mentioned as a long-term solution. The move towards a low carbon economy is expected to save Europe 60 billion EUR in oil and gas imports.
In an attempt to communicate better to citizens the link between the priorities set by the Spanish Presidency and policy making in action having a direct impact on the daily life of Europeans, F4E together with the Representation of the European Commission in Madrid will be organising a media trip for Spanish journalists to visit the premises of F4E in Barcelona and ITER in Cadarache in find out more about the project. The trip is planned to take place in June 2010.
