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Spain to Guide EU on Use of Lisbon Treaty

2,561 views · Published 22 December 2009 · 8:00 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: Euractiv · 2009 · News & Politics

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Spain takes over the EU presidency in January. They will be the first member state to guide the Union using the Treaty of Lisbon as the new rudder. Some claim it will be a presidency of transition. As part of the preparations a delegation of the blocs Committee on Constitutional Affairs met in the Spanish capital Madrid. Talks with the Spanish Secretary of State for the EU Diego LÓPEZ GARRIDO gets the day underway. He is a strong advocate of a single European voice on foreign policy.
 
0'46
Diego LÓPEZ GARRIDO, Spanish Secretary of State for the EU, in Spanish:
"The way we went about things in the past will no longer be the case. The new EU will be less divisive, what happened over the Iraq war won't happen again. The main shift is that Europe will have a single voice on foreign policy and I think it's a key objective of the Treaty. We have a High Representative, Catherine ASHTON, working along with the EU's diplomatic arm will help develop a strong EU foreign policy."
 
1'24 
During the Iraq conflict the EU splintered. The creation of these new roles within the Union is a step forward according to MEP Íñigo MÉNDEZ DE VIGO.
 
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MEP Íñigo MÉNDEZ DE VIGO (EPP, ES), in Spanish:
"Who was the president of European Council when military intervention in Iraq was being discussed, nobody knows, well it was the Greek presidency. However people didn't see Kostas SIMITIS as the European Council President, but as the leader of his country. Now we have a permanent president. And there is a difference with Javier SOLANA, who did a good job; I salute the High Representative who is also the vice-president of the Commission. She won't wait for foreign ministers to call...she'll be putting the calls in."

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