Despite squabbles over Gibraltar, Britain and Spain see eye to eye on structural reforms for the EU.
David Cameron and Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy have written a joint article for a Spanish financial newspaper urging reform in order to “make the European Union much more competitive”.
The article appeared in advance of talks in Madrid on Friday between the two leaders.
Both the UK and Spain, they said, had had similar structural problems, including excessive debt and little competitiveness. Had this been left unattended, it "would have led to economic ruin in the long term", but both economies were now growing and creating jobs.
"We have learned a clear lesson from all this: countries that consolidate their public finances guarantee the sustainability of their welfare state, carry out ambitious structural reforms and incentivise employment, create the greatest number of jobs and bring back confidence in the future," Cameron and Rajoy wrote.
They said they had each had to tackle their problems individually, but felt that "the results will be better if we work together to create a European Union that has growth, employment and innovation as its reason for being."
Growth should be the EU's main goal, the leaders said.
They agreed that “real reform” of the eurozone was required, but not at the expense of EU members not using the euro.
They pressed for ways to increase the digital economy, such as an easy system for registering online companies in other countries.
It is difficult to imagine that the meeting will ignore the pressing migrant plight. Only hours before a scheduled afternoon press conference in Madrid, Cameron announced that the UK will provide resettlement for thousands more Syrian refugees.
Portugal
British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Portugal’s PM this morning and gave his endorsement to the Portuguese government’s strategy of high unemployment, raised taxes and mass emigration which, Cameron said has ‘turned Portugal’s economy around.’
Passos Coelho could not have wished for more as Cameron ensured a pre-election boost for Portugal’s ruling coalition.
Cameron’s hard line approach to immigration and latterly the ballooning refugee crisis has won him few friends in Europe where the other EU countries are sharing the burden.
Portugal is making tentative yet media friendly steps to take more of the hundreds of thousands displaced from the middle east humanitarian conflict and this was discussed by the two PMs with Cameron announcing that the UK will be ‘helping’ lots more refugees but would much rather see the conflict at an end.
