Spanish European Presidency from January 2010 until July 2010.

Spanish European Presidency from January 2010 until July 2010.

Spain took over the EU Presidency from Sweden on 1 January 2010.
The priorities of the Spanish EU Presidency are set out on the Spanish EU Presidency Website. www.eu2010.es
www.eu2010.es/en/
www.ethiopianreview.com/news/7890

Spanish EU presidency focuses on Cuba, economy — EU Business News ...
www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/diplomacy-spain.23r
Spain will use its six-month stint at the helm of the European Union to launch a concerted drive to improve ties with Latin America, especially Cuba, as well as to tackle the continent's economic woes. When Spain takes over the revolving presidency on Friday, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will become the first leader of an EU country to have to share the top table with the bloc's first president, Herman Van Rompuy. But Zapatero's government intends to leave its own mark, and will seek a new bilateral agreement on EU-Cuba ties despite objections from its two immediate predecessors -- Sweden and the Czech Republic -- and Cuban human rights groups. Madrid has long been in the forefront of efforts to boost relations with Cuba, a former Spanish colony. It wants to see an end to the EU's Common Position on Cuba, adopted in 1996, which calls for progress on human rights and democracy before normalising relations. Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told parliament last week that the EU would be "making a mistake" if it continued to base its relations with the Communist island on this "diplomatic instrument", adding "a firm and respectful dialogue is the best way" to encourage progress in Cuba. He said the number of political prisoners in Cuba has dropped from 300 to 200 and he argued that Raul Castro, who took over the Cuban presidency from his ailing older brother Fidel in February 2008, has shown a desire for reform that should be encouraged. But Ernesto Gutierrez Tamargo, general secretary of the Spanish Federation of Cuban Associations (FECU), told AFP it is "a very serious mistake" to change the EU's position, arguing that Cuba has met the open hand extended by US President Barack Obama with "contempt" and would do the same to Europe. The focus on Cuba will be part of a wider effort by Spain to boost the EU's ties with Latin America during its presidency of the bloc. Zapatero has said Spain will seek to boost trade agreements between the EU and its former colonies Colombia and Peru and will seek to reach association agreements between the bloc and Central America. (International summits with Latin America and the Caribbean are scheduled). Spain also wants to step up the fight against terrorism, nuclear proliferation and piracy off the coast of Somalia as well as introduce pan-European measures to combat domestic violence. On the economic front, Zapatero and Van Rompuy have agreed to hold an informal meeting of heads of EU states in early February to discuss economic reforms. Zapatero said Madrid would encourage a new growth model for the EU based on a "greener, more productive and competitive economy". Spain boasts several leading companies in the area of renewable energy like wind and solar power and it unveiled a sweeping reform package designed to reduce its economy's reliance on the construction sector and usher in a more sustainable growth model."

Press conferences
Presentation of the Spanish Presidency's cultural programme and opening of the "Travesías" (Crossings) and "Mujeres en la sombra" (Women in the shadows) exhibitions.
- Date: Tuesday 5 January 2010. Time: 12.00 pm
- Place: Atrium of the Justus Lipsius building. Rue de la Loi 175. Brussels.
- Attending: Ángeles González-Sinde, Minister of Culture; Diego López Garrido, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Cristina Zelich, organiser of the "Mujeres en la sombra" exhibition and Daniel Canogar, author of the video installation "Travesías".
Informal Meeting of ministers for Europe
- Date: Thursday 14 January 2010. Time: 11.30 am
- Venue: Palacio de Congresos de La Granja (Segovia)
- Subject: Press conference of the Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union, Diego López Garrido. He will present the objectives for the Spanish Presidency and the priorities of the program of the Trio, formed by Spain, Belgium and Hungary.
- Attending to the Meeting of ministers: Margot Wallström, vice president of the European Commission; Miguel Angel Moratinos, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs; Felipe González, former Spanish primer minister and chair of the think tank on the future of Europe.
Program Informal Council on Energy and the Environment
- Date: Saturday 16 January 2010. Time: 18.15
- Place: Seville
- Subject of the press conference: Follow-up of the results of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Technology Governance and Cooperation.
- Attending to the Council: Ministers of the Environment and Energy
- Others: Antonio Brufau, Chairman of the Spanish Energy Club; John Hontelez, General Secretary of the European Environmental Bureau.
Informal Council of Energy and the Environment