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2023 Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union

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Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Logo of the 2023 Spanish presidency
1 July – 31 December 2023
Council of the European Union
Websitehttps://spanish-presidency.consilium.europa.eu
Presidency trio
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez (left), European Council president Charles Michel (center left), Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (center right), and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (right) at the 3rd EU–CELAC summit in Brussels, 17 July 2023

Spain held the presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of 2023.[1] The presidency was the first of three presidencies making up a presidency trio, followed by the presidency of Belgium, and scheduled to be followed by that of Hungary.[2] It was the fifth time Spain had held the presidency.[1]

On the first day of the presidency, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez took the train to Kyiv in a highly symbolic visit, where he met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and addressed the Verkhovna Rada.[3][4][5][a] During the visit, Sánchez stated that one of the priorities of the Spanish presidency would be working with Ukraine in its bid to accede to the European Union.[7][5]

One of the greatest successes of this presidency is considered to be the historic breakthrough regarding the full integration of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen area and the initial opening of the air and sea borders of the two already Schengen countries with the other Schengen countries. Land borders are expected to be abolished in 2024.[8]

Meetings

[edit]
Informal meeting of the European Council. Granada, 6 October 2023.
Closing concert of the 2023 Spanish Presidency.

The meeting of the College of Commissioners that traditionally inaugurates the rotating presidency took place at the Royal Collections Gallery in Madrid on 3 July 2023.[9] The 3rd EU–CELAC summit took place in Brussels on 17–18 July.[10][11] The 3rd European Political Community Summit between the members of the European Political Community took place in Granada on 5 October.[12] An informal meeting of the European Council took place at the same venue in Granada the following day, on 6 October.[13]

Informal ministerial meetings

[edit]
Area Date Location Ref.
Environment 10–11 July 2023 Valladolid [14]
Energy 11–12 July 2023 Valladolid [15]
Employment and social policies 13–14 July 2023 Madrid [16]
Fisheries 17–18 July 2023 Vigo [17]
Justice and home affairs 20–21 July 2023 Logroño [18]
Consumer affairs and industry and internal market 24–25 July 2023 Bilbao [19]
Health 28 July 2023 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria [20]
Competitiveness (Research) 28 July 2023 Santander [21]
Defence 30 August 2023 Toledo [22]
Foreign Affairs 31 August 2023 Toledo [23]
Agriculture 3–5 September 2023 Córdoba [24]
Development 4–5 September 2023 Cádiz [25]
Economic and financial affairs 15–16 September 2023 Santiago de Compostela [26]
Education and youth 18–19 September 2023 Zaragoza [27]
Transport 22 September 2023 Barcelona [28]
Culture 26 September 2023 Cáceres [29]
General Affairs 28 September 2023 Murcia [30]
General Affairs (cohesion) 29 September 2023 Murcia [31]
Foreign Affairs 10 October 2023 Videoconference [32]
Trade 20 October 2023 Valencia [33]
Telecommunications 23–24 October 2023 León [34]
Tourism 31 October 2023 Palma [35]
European Space Agency 7 November 2023 Seville [36]
Competitiveness (space) 7 November 2023 Seville [37]
Housing and urban development 13–14 November 2023 Gijón [38]
Equality 23–24 November 2023 Pamplona [39]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Sánchez explicitly mentioned that he wanted the first act of the presidency to be in Ukraine.[6] The Spanish government also stated that the visit symbolized "the European Union's unwavering support for Ukraine in all areas: military, humanitarian and economic".[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b Timeline. Presidencies of the Council of the EU EU
  2. ^ Five things to expect from Spain's EU Presidency atlanticcouncil.org
  3. ^ Spain EU Presidency AP News
  4. ^ a b Visit to Kyiv lamoncloa.gob.es
  5. ^ a b Kyiv Pedro Sanchez Ukraine politico.eu
  6. ^ Russia Ukraine war news The Washington Post 1 July 2023
  7. ^ Zelensky praises Spain PM's extremely symbolic Ukraine visit France 24 1 July 2023
  8. ^ "Schengen area: Council agrees to lift air and maritime internal border controls with Bulgaria and Romania". Consilium. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  9. ^ "La Galería de las Colecciones Reales acoge la primera reunión de la presidencia española de la Unión Europea". Patrimonio Nacional (in Spanish). 7 July 2023.
  10. ^ Clean energy comes first for summit agenda batimes.com.ar
  11. ^ EU to invest 45bn in Latin America and Caribbean The Guardian 19 July 2023
  12. ^ "The European Political Community and EU leaders discuss the EU's future strategy in Granada". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 4 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Informal meeting of heads of state or government". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 6 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on environment". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 10–11 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on energy". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 11–12 July 2023.
  16. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on employment and social policies". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 13–14 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on fisheries". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 17–18 July 2023.
  18. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on justice and home affairs". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 20–21 July 2023.
  19. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on consumer affairs and industry and internal market". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 24–25 July 2023.
  20. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on EPSCO (health)". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 28 July 2023.
  21. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on competitiveness (Research)". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 28 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on defence". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 30 August 2023.
  23. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on foreign affairs - Gymnich". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 31 August 2023.
  24. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on agriculture". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 3–5 September 2023.
  25. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on development". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 4–5 September 2023.
  26. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on economic and financial affairs". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 15–16 September 2023.
  27. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on education and youth". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 18–19 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on transport". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 22 September 2023.
  29. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on culture". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 26 September 2023.
  30. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on General Affairs". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 28 September 2023.
  31. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on General Affairs (cohesion)". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 29 September 2023.
  32. ^ "Informal videoconference of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 10 October 2023.
  33. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on trade". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 20 October 2023.
  34. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on telecommunications". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 23–24 October 2023.
  35. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on tourism". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 31 October 2023.
  36. ^ "European Space Agency (ESA) Inter-ministerial Summit". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 7 November 2023.
  37. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on competitiveness (Space)". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 7 November 2023.
  38. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on housing and urban development". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 13–14 November 2023.
  39. ^ "Informal ministerial meeting on equality". 2023 Spanish Presidency. 23–24 November 2023.
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