Raise awareness about elections in Madrid and elsewhere in Spain

EESC members and a member of the Federal Board of the European Movement focus on the importance of voting and on the fact that themes concerning citizenship are decided at European level.

You can watch the debate on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/live/sUA1KDNM4KQ?si=YeveXAHhyXMEP5gt

Key messages

Andrés Barceló Delgado

The European elections are the opportunity for European citizens to strengthen their commitment to the European Union, which has given Spaniards many more advantages than disadvantages. It is worth remembering two great successes of the mandate that has now ended: COVID vaccines and Next Generation funds.

COVID-19 vaccines have saved the lives of many Europeans and have been made possible by the work of the European Commission, which was able to negotiate in a timely manner, the availability of vaccines. Now, when reviewing what has been done, problems may appear in the management, but if it is valued in a comprehensive way, the truth is that the management by the Commission was decisive to save the lives of Spaniards, although now some do not want to recognize it.

As for the Next Generation funds, 4 years ago it was inconceivable that the European Union decided to go into debt to recover the economy of the Member States, with special emphasis on the countries most affected by the pandemic, Italy and Spain. This debt, which will be paid not only by our children but also by our grandchildren, requires a commitment from the beneficiaries to use them well and not to waste them in semi-leisure activities, but to help a profound transformation of the Spanish economy.

Mari Carmen Barrera Chamorro

The European Parliament has a direct impact on the lives of millions of citizens.

In these elections our social model is at stake, the rise of the far right and nationalist populism threatens to destroy the progress made in the construction of Social Europe. After the turning point of the pandemic, we have seen significant progress in building a Social Europe, with directives such as minimum wages, platform work, transparency and equal pay, against gender-based violence and work-life balance, but much remains to be done.

We need to put the working class at the centre of European policies, we need to incorporate a Social Progress Protocol, so that never again in Europe the social rights of working people are cut to save the economy. For all this we must vote massively in these European elections. Only in this way Europe will remain an open, pluralistic project that responds to the interests of all its citizens.

Michelangelo Cabra de Luna

Why vote?

60% of decisions affecting us at national level are taken in Brussels.

We need more Europe, not less Europe.

European social policy is more necessary than ever and compatible with economic growth.

-The Recovery Plan and the joint purchase of vaccines are excellent examples of European cooperation. The Union is a force and a clear success factor.

-A European investment agenda (housing) needs to be created.

-For an EU that takes into account women, the elderly and people with disabilities and their families.

Antonio García del Riego

Social progress can only be maintained and built on sound and sustainable economic growth. The European institutions of the next term must facilitate that the 300 billion euros of European savings that today are channeled to the USA find alternatives in Europe.

Europe determines 80% of the national legislation, which is subsequently applied in Spain and in the other Member States. It is important that we respond to the call to vote on June 9. In Brussels we need to have the best defenders of Spanish interests, we need representatives who place Spanish interests among the European objectives in a geopolitical environment that demands new answers.

Voting is the best way to engage with those responsible for tackling Europe's defence, security and competitiveness challenges. Plato already pointed out that the price of disengaging from politics is to be governed by the worst!!

José Antonio Moreno Díaz

The EU is a collective project that needs the participation of all to build the Europe we want: an EU that moves forward with a social agenda that prevents anyone from being left behind. An EU of free and equal citizens in which no person is discriminated against on the basis of skin colour, gender, ideology or sexual orientation. A plural and diverse EU in which democracy and respect for human rights are the basis for coexistence under the rule of law.

To continue building the EU that we all want, it is necessary to vote, with enthusiasm and engament, to prevent the extreme right from poisoning coexistence in freedom and stopping the construction of a fairer EU for all.

José Manuel Roche  

These elections are of great importance for society as a whole and especially for the primary sector.

That is why it is essential that farmers go out to vote so that their voice and their work are heard and taken into account. But I insist that we our vote is based on information and knowledge, and not on manipulation and doom theories who seek a return to isolationist protectionism.

Food production and food security must be at the heart of European policies. We need to ensure a Europe that continues to uphold the highest standards of sustainability, food safety and animal and plant health in the EU, as well as an efficient internal market. On them depends our future and the future of the next generations.