Chris Bryant

Tertulius

On Friday I was perched on a barstool answering questions about the future of British Spanish relations in the stunning Baltic Exchange in Gateshead alongside the Spanish Foreign Secretary Miguel Angel Moratinos.  We both showed off a bit - he answering in English and I in Spanish - but the message was the same.  We were gathered for the annual UK-Spain Tertulias, an informal and friendly gathering of the Spanish and British governments, industry, NGOs and academia.  Both of us made clear the extraordinary degree of mutual cooperation between the two countries and underlined the need to focus the attention of the European Union on the issues that really matter to citizens, jobs, economic growth and competitiveness with the emerging economies like China, India and Brazil.  We also argued that the last thing Europe needs is another round of inward-looking treaty reform.  "Nunca mas", as they say.

One other topic was the appointment of Herman Van Rompuy and Cathy Ashton as the EU’s first President of the Council and High Representative for Foreign Affairs. The Spanish Presidency, which begins in 6 weeks time, will be the first to take advantage of the co-ordination and impact of these new posts in order to deliver on key priorities. And top of this list will be climate change and building a new sustainable economic model, as the Spanish Presidency follows-up on the Copenhagen Summit and puts forward proposals to re-launch the EU’s Lisbon Strategy for Jobs and Growth.  These are areas in which we are natural partners. You need look no further than Newcastle, and the New and Renewable Energy Centre (http://www.narec.co.uk) to see the real impact in terms of jobs and economic growth investment in sustainable technology is already having in the UK. And in Spain, the renewable sector is already providing around 175,000 jobs. We need to work together and through the EU to further embed this growth – sustainable technology will rival pharmaceuticals and aerospace in the coming years and the EU must be in a position to capitalise on this.

More fundamentally, the UK and Spain share a modern, dynamic view of the European Union. This is never more clearly demonstrated than over our robust support for EU membership for Turkey. Turkey is likely to be the Asian Tiger economy on our doorstep.  It is a secular Muslim State.  And it can help us ensure our energy and wider security.  So we should do everything to enable it to move forward through the process of joining the Union when it meets the conditions of entry.

Posted at 13:23 25 November 2009 by Chris Bryant  |  Comments[2]