On July 1, Sweden will hand over the Rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union to Spain, which will hold its reins for the fifth time since its accession to the then-European Community back in 1986. During the second half of 2023, Spain will have to steer the EU through troubled waters, making the most of arising opportunities to build a better Europe for the future.

To scrutinise the priorities and challenges of the Presidency, TEPSA and its Spanish Member Institute, the Elcano Royal Institute, hosted the Spanish Pre-Presidency Conference on 1 and 2 June 2023 in Madrid. The conference featured high level discussions between researchers from the TEPSA Network, members of the public including students and civil society representatives, and key policy-makers from the Spanish government, including inter alia María Lledó, Secretary General for the European Union, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain.

Speakers:
- José Juan Ruiz, Chairman, Elcano Royal Institute;
- Carme Colomina, Senior Research Fellow, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB);
- Lucia Mokrá, Chairperson of the Board, TEPSA;
- Juan González Mellizo, Head of Communication of the Representation in Spain, European Commission;
- María Lledó, Secretary General for the European Union, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain.

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Editing: Hugh Evans
Music: "The Stratosphere", song by Adam Vitovský

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.