Madrid, (EFE) .
The request of the Spanish Executive has been accepted by the European Parliament, according to what a spokesman for the president of the institution, Roberta Metsola, told EFE on Friday.
The reason for this delay is that the appearance was scheduled for July 13, right in the middle of the campaign for the 23J elections, since it will take place between July 7 and 21.
The request for postponement was formally made this Friday by the Executive to the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and government sources report that the decision was already transmitted last Tuesday, May 30, to the General Directorate of Communication of the European Parliament .
Specifically, they affirm that the request was transferred 24 hours after Sánchez announced the call for general elections for July 23, an event that occurred last Monday, after the poor results of the Socialists in the municipal and regional elections the previous day. .
delayed until september
The Spanish Government indicates that the appearance will be held in the plenary session of the European Parliament next September.
This Friday, the head of the European People’s Party group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, had asked Metsola to delay Sánchez’s appearance until September to present the priorities for the six-month Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU and thus not coincide with the electoral campaign.
exercise of responsibility
Government sources told EFE that Weber has made an “opportunistic instrumentalization” of this issue, since the request had already been made by the Executive on Tuesday although it was not formally made until this Friday.
For the Executive, the request for postponement is an exercise of responsibility to leave an institution like the European Parliament out of national debates.
In any case, they insisted that the presidency of the Council of the EU, which Spain will hold in the second half of this year, is a matter of the country and that it will develop as normal despite the electoral call.