Sánchez and Costa will meet with Macron and Scholz to unlock energy interconnections such as MidCat

The President of the Government,

, and the Portuguese Prime Minister,

, will tour next week with stops in Paris and Berlin to discuss with Emmanuel Macron and Wolfgang Scholz the energy connections between the Iberian Peninsula and the continent.

The meeting, which will take place just after an informal meeting of the energy ministers of the 27 and before a summit with all the leaders in Brussels on the 20th, has been agreed on the margins of the informal European Council that has been held this week in

.

The word that immediately springs to mind is

.

Macron, upon his arrival in Prague, again forcefully ruled out the possibility of going ahead with that pipeline that would serve to get both gas and hydrogen from our country to the continent through the Pyrenees.

He assured that it would take five to eight years to build, so it does not serve to alleviate the current situation.

And he pointed out that, in addition, the current gas pipelines work at half their capacity now.

The message did not like anything in Moncloa, and Vice President

responded quickly from León, assuring that since March 1, a week after the war in Ukraine began, Spain has had a net export balance of gas to France in 69% of the 219 days that have elapsed.

And that around 17% of the days of the period, the connection has been at its maximum export capacity (use equal to or greater than 80% of its capacity).

An infrastructure that operates at maximum 20% of the days is considered saturated, says Moncloa.

The meeting in Paris and Berlin, a few days after the German chancellor and half of his government traveled to Coruña, wants to try to square the circle.

The vision of Spain is that "something is moving", indicate sources of the Executive.

And that these summits are not organized for nothing.

"I have had the opportunity to raise the issue of MidCat with the Council and then with Macron individually. Well, one way or another, sooner or later, we are going to reach an agreement that manages to marry all the sensitivities and concerns of France. I am not going to say that I am optimistic but... a year ago we proposed the reform of the market, caps on gas, joint purchases and they are being done. I am convinced that with a good friend and ally we will reach the bottom", said the president at the end of the community meeting.

"

Sánchez was hoping to make a three-part announcement, but both Macron and the German chancellor have advanced the news in their speeches to the media.

His team is very confident, despite the fact that France's tone is very critical, apparently leaving little room.

It is true that the gas pipeline is useless for the current crisis, but Sánchez insists that it is not only about gas interconnections, but also hydrogen and electricity, and that something must be done quickly.

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