Spain speaks their minds, makes an Impact

By: APRIL DIODATO

How do you make your voice heard at a summit filled with commanding and outspoken individuals? While some member states held back and contributed little, Spain seemed to come with an effective strategy for speaking their mind and impacting the summit during SUNY MEU.

The representatives of Spain (hailing from the American University of Bulgaria) came well-prepared and informed on their country’s positions. They frequently took advantage of the opportunities to assert Spain’s standpoint on the issues.

Spain representatives included Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Coreper Carlos Bastarreche Sagües, Minister of Finance Pedro Solbes and Foreign Minister Miguel Angelos Moratinos Cuyuabe. The four met in a SUNY New Paltz computer lab between meetings on Saturday to discuss strategies and standpoints.

“I think the crucial thing when it comes to having your voice heard is framing,” the prime minister said. “I think this is one of the hardest things for politicians, being able to frame the issue in the right way, for the right audience, at the right time. That’s where people often fail. I’ve been trying to work with what I have with the kind of sentiments I get from the other delegates, although it’s proven pretty hard because inevitably it kind of boils down to contentious politics.”

“We have an advantage that we study European studies and so we are knowledgeable on the issues,” said Coreper Carlos Basterreche Sagües.

He said that the group met several times, dividing the work on the agenda and additional points.

“In terms of preparation, I think doing research on what the really current issues are in Spain works for us very productively because there’s been tremendous shifts in terms of, for example, unemployment and the country’s kind of in an ailing state right now,” Zapatero said.

The Spanish prime minister was consistently vocal at the Heads of Government meetings throughout SUNY MEU. The PM had no qualms about requesting clarification, giving input and, at one point in the Saturday afternoon HOGS meeting, taking on Ireland when their PM prevented discussion from moving forward.

“Our goals were to make sure enlargement does happen, although the member states have to be very cautious about they way it happens in the current economic turmoil,” Zapatero said. “Also, to express our support for Croatia, because we have a historic commitment to the Western Balkans and we really want – despite all of the problems currently going on – to see that part Europe integrated into the EU.”

The prime minister said that Spain is ready to support those countries ready become part of the EU family.

“I think Spain managed to get its voice heard,” the prime minister said.

“Yes, it did,” agreed the foreign minister. “For example in the energy talks, our agenda item on energy was proposed… basically, what we were pushing for got accepted.”

“We were mostly discussing the crisis and the goals were set long before on… how to overcome this. We’re really trying to get to have an agenda and create new committees,” said the minister of finance. “We proposed a stimulus package, however, they disagreed on that.”

By the end of the day, all agreements were made and approved by the Heads of Government. The Spanish prime minister said that he felt the compromises they had to make were minor, and felt that they had accomplished their goals to the greatest extent that it was feasible in order to come to a consensus.

When asked how he felt about Spain’s impact on summit, the prime minister replied, “I think that we pushed for certain items to be clarified and elaborated to the full before they were being finally decided upon.”