The Spanish prime minister said Europe has an obligation to fill the gap as the U.S. steps back from international cooperation, in remarks at POLITICO’s European Pulse Forum.
BARCELONA — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday urged Europe to “dream big” and not only defend its interests, but become the moral leader in an increasingly turbulent world.
“Europe’s challenge is not only to rearm itself to address its security and defense problems, but to also rearm itself morally, so that it can contribute to stable and peaceful development throughout the world,” Sánchez said at POLITICO’s European Pulse Forum in Barcelona.
The prime minister said that at a moment when the U.S. has given up on international cooperation, Europe has an obligation to step up to fill that gap. And in that context, Spain is pitching itself as the leader the rest of the EU should follow.
“There are elements of the Spanish model that work: it’s possible to grow and create stable employment, to distribute wealth and also protect the environment without sacrificing one for the benefit of the other,” the prime minister said.
Sánchez argued that, since joining the European bloc four decades ago, Spain had not only become a consolidated democracy with a booming economy, but a trailblazer in areas like energy and climate. He pointed to Madrid’s massive rollout of renewables as an example: By generating nearly 60 percent of Spain’s electricity, the country has so far avoided being hit by sky-high power prices related to war in the Middle East.
While calling for the bloc to shore up its defenses with common projects like the creation of a European army, the Spanish leader said the EU needed to take firm moral stances at the global level. To that end, Sánchez said it was imperative for Brussels to suspend its cooperation agreement with Israel to protest against its “flagrant” disrespect for international law.
Sánchez is one of Europe’s most vocal critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon. He has also skirmished with U.S. President Donald Trump and vehemently opposed the U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran.
“Europe’s citizens don’t want their leaders to look the other way, to be self-absorbed,” he said. “They want them to get involved in finding the solutions to the global challenges facing humanity.”
Sánchez said the EU needed to take greater pride in its achievements and pushed back against far-right and Euroskeptic parties that argue the bloc “has lost its touch or is falling behind.”
The prime minister argued Europe has the world’s best quality of life, the highest life expectancy, the greatest number of democratic governments, the most robust environmental standards and safest streets.
“You only have to travel outside of Europe to truly understand what I’m talking about,” he said. “It feels good to be European.”
Sánchez said that Europe deserves to be proud of its achievements, but admitted it “still has a lot of work to do.” He called for the EU to allocate a greater share of the bloc’s seven-year budget to social spending, and for Europe to remain open to “trade, talent, and ideas.”
Figures like Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the center-right People’s Party, are staunchly against the government’s plan to regularize more than 500,000 undocumented migrants.
“Spain is exporting a migration problem to the entire European Union,” Feijóo said during his own address to the audience in Barcelona, calling for “Spain, and therefore Europe, that we regain control of our borders.”
But during his own speech, Sánchez pushed back, saying the “legal, safe, and orderly migration” is key if the EU wants to “seize opportunities and better manage the challenges it faces.”
Sánchez further rallied the bloc to act boldly.
“We have the resources, the institutions, the talent, principles, values,” he said. “The only thing we’re missing is the daring to imagine how far we could go or how far together we can go.”