The State of the European Union. The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet

17 A pro-European country regardless of political swings? A history Spain joined the then European Communities on 1 January 1986, following a decades-long delay caused by the persistence of the Franco dictatorship in the country. Since that day, none of the main political parties have stood in the elections without a dis- tinctly pro-European programme and no prime minister has been sworn in without a clear com- mitment along similar lines. Obviously, each government has had its own character: Felipe González, José María Aznar, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Mariano Rajoy and, lastly, Pedro Sánchez, have stressed with more or less emphasis the central importance of European policy. Yet perhaps there were two moments when that stress could be most clearly perceived dif- ferently in two fields: content and pro-active- ness. In terms of content, it is worth recalling the marked difference between Aznar, his predeces- sor and his successor in the Moncloa, both of who were Socialists, when it came to establish- ing the precedence of the European Union (EU) over the transatlantic alliance – particularly in relation to the Iraq War – and also with regard to the Community’s political deepening. On the first issue, Aznar played at dividing the EU (“the letter of the eight”) to favour George W. Bush’s strategy, while neither González nor Zapatero ever put relations with Washington before strengthening Spain’s pres- ence in the EU. On the second issue, Aznar blatantly dragged his feet in the European Convention (2002- 2003), made Spain join the Eurosceptic group of the Convention, led by the United Kingdom, and ultimately blocked the approval of the con- stitutional project, a knot that was untied as soon as Zapatero came to power. Zapatero also called a referendum whose overwhelming “yes” vote, given the results of the referendums in France and the Netherlands, proved key to 95% of the constitution being rescued through the Treaty of Lisbon. Spain before a new European political cycle José Candela and Carlos Carnero