The King of Spain calls for bringing Europe closer to citizens

USPA NEWS - The King of Spain, Philip VI, called for the European project closer to citizens and defended the joint efforts of France and Spain for this purpose, during the Gala Dinner hosted by the French President at the end of the first day of the official visit to France.

During dinner, Philip VI stressed that "France and Spain are two countries with a great historical background. We have made a decisive contribution to European culture and civilization and universal; and we still have much more to say and to contribute in all spheres of human activity. We have learned, after centuries of conflicts and alliances, rivalries and approaches, that when we act in concert and in close understanding over our societies benefit and better and more effectively we promote the progress of the European ideal and the progress of mankind."

Europe is today also our homeland and the values presented, values which are to be held with determination," said the King of Spain, who began his speech at the Palace of Eliseo referring to the unity of action against terrorism and recalling the attacks by ETA and Islamists in France and Tunisia. The monarch said that "Spain needs France and France needs to Spain. We shared challenges and shared interests. We share values and shared convictions. Our societies have shown us every day the way of common endeavor, with a constant interplay in all areas, with filled with personal stories of efforts, dreams and nostalgia, but above all, full of illusion."

He also said that "the roads of France and Spain come together today, especially in Europe. Since the end of World War II and since the beginning of European integration, successive generations have worked convinced of the progress of our common project, that the conditions of their children would be better than themselves: better education, better jobs, better level of living and better prospects for the development of the rights of the people." King added that "we must achieve a European project closer to citizens, working for greater economic growth that drives job creation and greater social cohesion; to face together the future and the opportunities it offers, and continue to promote the values and principles that guide us."

Pointing to the future, the King wanted to make clear that it is time to reinvigorate both human Spanish-French trade and economic, commercial and cultural: "The Pyrenees, natural barrier that the time limits us and unites us, continue to present one pending challenge that we must strive to overcome. A common space together from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic generate a new dynamic of progress and prosperity for our respective companies and for the whole of Europe. Therefore, we must work hard to strengthen and multiply connections both transport and energy, as these networks on the vitality of our economies and better resistance to future crises is based," said the King.

Making reference to various scenarios of international reality, he recalled that France and Spain are the only two European countries with side of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, he stressed that Spain's hand and France on missions in Mali and Central African Republic, thanked the support France to Spain for two years is part of the Security Council of the United Nations and the Spanish support offered about the next United Nations Conference on Climate Change to be held in December this year in Paris.