The PP is maneuvering to delay Sánchez’s appearance in the European Parliament for the EU presidency.

The first result of the election progress in Brussels. The European PP maneuvers to delay the appearance of Pedro Sánchez before the European Parliament to present the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the EU. The debate, scheduled for July’s plenary session in Strasbourg, coincides with the first official week of the election campaign, as well as the NATO summit in Vilnius. The Latin American and Caribbean summit will be held just five days before the elections. Moncloa insists the electoral advance will not affect the major presidential appointments that Spain takes from July 1, but conservatives want at least a debate in the European Parliament to be postponed until September.

About this, the head of the PPE, Manfred Weber, in a letter to President Roberta Mezzola, asked to postpone the debate to September, where the current EU president will outline his plans for the semester. The Conservative spokesman’s argument is that this will “allow the newly elected president to present the council’s priorities beyond the infighting”. “I believe this small adjustment to our institutional calendar will strengthen the legitimacy of the process and our ability to meet our common priorities,” German adds.

The prolongation of this debate, which is already formally on Metzola’s table, must be approved at the next session of the Conference of Presidents, which is a similar body to the Press Council of the European Parliament Congress, in which political groups participate. . PP wants to avoid this Sanchez dynamic. European conservatives are loyal to Feijo, whose victory would mark the recovery of one of Europe’s largest countries at a time when it has lost much of its power, largely due to the rise of the far right.

However, given the fragmentation of Spain’s parliament in recent years, there is nothing foreordained that there will be a new government in September. The Constitution of the Cortes of August 17, yes, will give us hints about the possible majority that can be configured, since the first agreements of the legislature must be forged for the election of the presidents of the chambers. However, Congress elected Patx López in 2016 without the agreement of the executive branch, so the election was repeated. The same thing happened after the elections of April 28, 2019.

In Moncloa, they do not foresee any change of plans, according to government sources this Thursday, regarding the possible delay of this appearance, so as not to coincide with the campaign or the possibility that the Spanish priorities are exposed by Alberto Núñez Feijo. to the European Chamber in case there is a change in the majority, which will make him the head of the government. “We are going to win the election,” these sources added.

If Feijo manages to rule before the end of the year, it will be the third time there has been a change of government while the country has a rotating presidency. The predecessors are in France and Italy in the 90s. Before the election, the PP accused the government of not personally informing the leader of the opposition about Sanchez’s preparations for the semester. However, in Moncloa, they insist that the conservatives have all the data through the Joint Commission on EU Relations and are embarrassed by the fact that Feijoo’s PP installed Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarez when he brought in Spanish MEPs. You the details.