Germany wants Spain to be part of the anti-missile shield that Scholz champions

• Special Who wins with the energy crisis?

• Gas Why the EU fails to reach an agreement

On the shores of the sea, in the heart of

, stands the avant-garde

.

axis is staged today

, today marked by the energy crisis plaguing

and the Russian invasion of

as primary issues.

With this context, one of the issues that will be on the table is the creation of a European anti-missile shield, an initiative led by

and in which it wants to involve

, as well as other countries.

The German ambassador confirmed tonight in Ser that the matter can be discussed in La Coruña between

and

.

The German chancellor already advocated last August for creating a joint air defense system at European level with the aim of gaining "in security" on the continent and then announced that Germany would lead the initiative, investing "significantly" in defense in the next years.

has launched

. There were first research meetings, but at a relatively low level. It will surely be discussed at the summit. It is an issue that may be on the table tomorrow. There were two meetings in Berlin, but not at a high level. We are probing."

Spanish sources from the Government and Defense explained that the matter is not in the documentation to be addressed at the summit.

Spain is already part of the NATO anti-missile shield through the

and

bases and this would be a new initiative that, surely, would provoke the rejection of

.

European gas cap

From

opposes so far

, and that he is also understanding for Europe to relax the fiscal rules, due to the duration of the war in Ukraine and its consequences.

Where they do go hand in hand is the need to increase the gas interconnection between the Iberian Peninsula and Europe.

The two form an entente against the reluctance of

.

Despite the social democratic entente that Sánchez and Scholz have woven, these are two issues on which they maintain different positions, while at the same time they are two issues that the President of the Government of

wants to lead in Europe.

Hence, the celebration of the XXV Spanish-German summit is an opportunity to address these issues in the bilateral meeting that both leaders will hold during the afternoon.

Sánchez remains firm in his intention to strengthen his international profile, seeking to champion debates in Europe and now in La Coruña, trying to convince a key country to agree to his positions.

Government sources admit the difficulties in reaching a consensus regarding the gas cap and fiscal rules, since they start from different positions.

There are 15 countries, including Spain,

and

, that have jointly requested a cap on gas regardless of its origin.

Germany, together with countries such as

,

or

, among others, is opposed, but the German government has agreed in its country a limit on the price of gas to protect companies and consumers from the rise in energy prices from The consequences of war.

"Work Ahead"

Despite this approach, which is not liked within the EU, from the Government they prefer to emphasize that at the beginning of the year, when Scholz visited La Moncloa, he was very forceful in the need to return to the path of fiscal rules as then and now, Germany is open to a reform of debt regulations, admitting, yes, that Europe has "work ahead".

In return he asks that the rules be applied more consistently in the medium term.

The

requires countries that the public deficit does not exceed 3% of GDP and the debt 60%.

This rule was suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic, and in May it was also decided to extend it to 2023, due to the consequences of the war.

Despite this scenario, Germany's purpose would be to return to its own fiscal rules by 2023. As for the European framework, Spain, France and Italy once again go hand in hand and demand that it be renewed, reformed, before it is applied again .

Already in April of this year, the Executive sealed an unusual understanding with

, through Vice President Nadia Calviño with the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs,

, in which they sealed a joint position in favor of relaxing European fiscal rules by 2023.

Within the framework of this meeting, an action plan will be signed between the two countries, which have been working for some time from the Foreign Ministries and which has had contributions from the rest of the ministerial departments.

In addition, agreements will be signed on social and labor matters and a declaration of intent on higher education and training.

Sánchez is accompanied by his three vice presidents -Nadia Calviño (Economy), Yolanda Díaz (Work) and Teresa Ribera (Energy Transition)- and five other ministers -José Manuel Albares (Foreign Affairs), Margarita Robles (Defense), Reyes Maroto (Industry) , Luis Planas (Agriculture) and Joan Subirats (Universities)-.

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