Étude
| 01/12/2001
On the 1st of January 2002, Spain shall take over the presidency of the European Union for the third time in its history. As is presented with finesse and clarity by Professor Carlos CLOSA, this presidency will not be the same as those that preceded it. The Spain of 2002 is not only, as it was in 1989 and 1995, the symbol - for herself and her partners - of a successful integration into the European Union.
Spain has also become one of the major players in the European game and, over and above its initial enthusiasm, has learnt to make a balanced assessment of the advantages and cost of its membership of the common project. Such an attitude means little more than that it has joined the majority of its partners, even if one might regret that this pointed sense of the interest of each Member State is often at the expense of the "family spirit" which had prevailed before.
The Spanish presidency of 2002 will thus be, in a certain manner, a presidency of maturity. It is not incidental to underline, as does Professor CLOSA, that the approach of the PSOE, which identified the national interest with the European interest, has been democratically replaced by the intergovernmental vision of the Partido Popular. This presidency takes place during a crucial moment in the life of the Union. Spain's partners can legitimately expect that she offers a precise outline of the contours of the big enlargement to come and that, at the same time, that she launches with efficacy and ambition the debate on the future of the Union whose orientations were stated at Laeken, during the Belgian presidency. In essence, it will be down to Spain to put in place the Convention that must give form to this debate.
If we are to believe Professor CLOSA, these are not questions that impassion public opinion in Spain; neither are they priorities that immediately spring to mind for its policy-makers. But, it is after all the lot of all presidencies to reconcile the specific impulsions that they wish to make to the development of the Union with the requirements of a calendar which obliges them to go beyond their own projects and the defence of their own interests. No-one can doubt that Spain will respond to these expectations and place all the talents of its policy-makers and its diplomacy to the service of the common interest, as the first semester of 2002 will be as decisive for the deepening of European integration as it will be for enlargement. One should also note that Spain is particularly well placed to remind us that the latter also carries with it obligations to reinforce links with the Southern Mediterranean countries. In this spirit, Professor CLOSA's study, which Notre Europe is honoured to publish, is a precious guide for those attempting to understand the spirit in which Spain prepares its task.
Articles by
Carlos Closa :
