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Donald Trump, who could return to the White House next year, has sparked great alarm in Europe by saying he may let Russia “do whatever it wants” to NATO allies that don’t contribute enough to collective self-defense. caused. Our guest says Trump’s comments should galvanize Europe toward strategic autonomy and energy independence. Teresa Rivera is Spain’s Minister for Environmental Transition and former Secretary of State for Climate Change. She is a confidant of Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
“With President Putin and President Trump putting Europe under siege, I don’t think any member state of the European Union can function well enough on its own without its colleagues,” Rivera said. “We need more Europe to stand up to President Trump.”
But what does “more European” mean? Rivera gives the example of the H2Med project launched by Spain, Portugal and France at the end of 2022. The project will become the first major green corridor connecting the Iberian Peninsula with other European countries.
“What we have done is to identify who is interested in participating in this project to produce and export hydrogen to be used for industrial and transport purposes. We need to design infrastructure and infrastructure. “Invest in them in the most sustainable and safe way. By providing alternative energies like this, We are increasing the resilience of the entire European Union.”
Regarding the recent farmers’ protests that have also spread to Spain, Rivera called for more efficient enforcement of laws aimed at ensuring that supermarkets pay Spanish farmers a fair price for their products. The government said it was considering it.
“I think we need to be more serious and have a dialogue with the agriculture sector,” she says. But she insists this should not mean compromising on the EU’s Green Deal. “It’s important to demonstrate how much of a safety net the Green Deal is for agriculture,” she says. “Agriculture is a major industry affected by climate change. This is actually the third year.” [in a row] For Rivera, the Green Deal “is about an energy transition and a just transition, working together with businesses, workers and farmers.” This work should be done at local, national and European levels. ”
It also touches on Spanish politics and the conflict between the government and the Catalan secessionist party Junts over an amnesty bill for those involved in the 2017 attempt by Catalan independence activists to secede from Spain. If Juntz withdraws his support for Sanchez, “it would be a political mistake,” Rivera said.
“We have a very sincere proposal to find a more united way to overcome the conflicts that we had to suffer in 2017. We are trying to build this reconciliation in Catalonia. ,” she says. But Rivera has ruled out new elections. “Our intention is to continue governing. I don’t think there is an alternative to that today. I mean, there are arguments from the far right and the right, but we don’t have any proposals, we just make noise and say ‘no’ to everything. It’s true that we don’t like polarization, but for the time being there is no alternative in Congress and we have no intention of even calling new elections. ”
Program production: Perrine Desplat, Johan Bodin, Isabel Romero, Sophie Samaille
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