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

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 20 bodies. Creation of an agency to help Christian minorities under threat, imitating the initiative of Hungary”. After finally finding a friend in Spain and for identifying with such approaches, it is no sur- prise that far-right parties in countries such as Germany, France or Italy, among others, should have welcomed the aforementioned political party’s results in Andalusia. Although the difference is clear: while sig- nificant sectors of the electorate in those coun- tries may share the anti-European feeling of their respective far rights, the polls show – as we shall see later – that it does not look like tak- ing root in Spanish public opinion, far from it. Will Spain be the nemesis of Salvini, Orban and Kaczynski? Pedro Sánchez’s investiture in the spring of 2018 came at one of the most critical points of the action of community governments headed by populist or far-right politicians. In Rome, the Conte government led by Di Maio and Salvini had recently taken office and in Budapest and Warsaw the governments of Orban and Kaczynski, respectively, were taking extremely serious decisions that, among other consequences, called into question European values or the pillars of the rule of law, such as the independence of the judiciary. Inevitably, the initial and subsequent deci- sions of the Spanish government have clashed with such governments, and the clashes have been particularly virulent in the case of Rome and immigration. The case of the Aquarius was a prime exam- ple. While Salvini denied any port to the boat, which had just rescued numerous illegal immi- grants out at sea who otherwise would have drowned, despite the fact that it was very close to the Italian coast, Sanchez took the vessel in, honouring Spain’s international and humanitar- ian obligations. That triggered a pointed exchange between Rome and Madrid that then recurred on several occasions throughout the year in the same de- cision-making area. At the same time, Spain has actively and prominently supported the decisions taken by the community institutions aimed at overturn- ing the Hungarian and Polish laws against the independence of the judiciary and opening the procedure for applying Article 7 of the Treaty to safeguard the Union’s values. Spain’s importance in the EU, the socialist and unequivocally left-wing nature of its gov- ernment, the clarity of its policy in defence of European values and human rights, its progres- sive ideas on core issues such as immigration, refuge and asylum and equality between men and women augur almost constant confronta- tion with the European populist governments, probably of the same kind that they have with President Emmanuel Macron in France. As long as it maintains the government of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), Spain to a large extent will be the nemesis of populism and the far right in the EU. It can and it must be – it does it no harm as a country, on the contrary – and it is a faithful reflection of the progressive and pro-European attitudes of its citizens. Spain in the European institutions Pedro Sánchez’s arrival in the Moncloa in 2018 brought about an increase in the truly dimin- ished socialist presence in the European Council and in the Council of the EU.