The French president and the king inaugurate the Spain-France Trade and Investment Forum in Madrid. Macron advocates for a single electricity market and Felipe VI calls for more cooperation on interconnections.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and King Felipe VI inaugurated the Spain-France Trade and Investment Forum on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business in Madrid, as part of the two-day state visit of the French leader. During the event, Macron defended the need to move towards a single European energy market, while Felipe VI urged France to enhance electrical interconnections on both sides of the Pyrenees, as reported by eleconomista.es.
The monarch emphasised that joint energy infrastructures are a true European public good and that they depend on security, price stability, and the competitiveness of the productive fabric. In the same vein, the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, host of the meeting, stated that Spain and France share "the same vision" for the future of the European Union and advocated for a community budget that meets the challenges.
"We need, if we want to succeed, two things. The first is technological neutrality. And the second is electrical interconnection"
Macron insisted that interconnection projects must be approached from a European perspective and not just bilaterally, as their economic performance only makes sense on a community scale. At this point, he suggested that Brussels participate in the financing and that it should not necessarily be split 50% between the two countries.
The French president also referred to the complementarity between the Spanish energy model, which is more oriented towards renewables, and the French model, which has a greater weight of nuclear energy. For Macron, Europe must move towards a single electricity market that allows for the strengths of each country to be leveraged.
"We need to make a small change in doctrine, otherwise we will deindustrialise"
Regarding competitiveness, Macron warned that Europe is facing a problem of innovation and scale compared to the United States and other powers. He criticised that during the financial crisis, little was invested collectively and defended simplifying community rules to facilitate private investment in strategic projects.
Felipe VI agreed on the need for Europe to gain scale, improve its industry and technology, and rely on the strengths of each member state. Additionally, he mentioned the convenience of facilitating rail connections and hydrogen projects to achieve a more connected and competitive Europe.
The forum, held in Madrid, brought together business and institutional representatives from both countries as part of the state visit, which will last for two days.
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