‘We need more Europe against Trump’: Spanish minister Teresa Ribera

“I don’t think that any of the member states of the European Union could work sufficiently well alone, without their colleagues, when the Putins and the Trumps of the world are surrounding Europe,” Ribera says. “We need more Europe against Trump.”

But what does “more Europe” mean? Ribera gives the example of the H2Med project, launched by Spain, Portugal and France in late 2022, which is set to be the first major green corridor that will link the Iberian peninsula with the rest of Europe.

“What we have done is to identify who may be interested in being part of this project to produce and export hydrogen, to be used for industrial or transportation purposes. We see huge interest in the north of Europe. We need to design the infrastructures and invest in them in the most sustainable and secure way. By providing an energy alternative like this we are making the whole European Union more resilient.”

On the recent farmers’ protests, which have spread to Spain, Ribera says that her government is looking into more efficient implementation of a law that aims to make sure that supermarkets pay Spanish farmers fair prices for their products.

“I think that we need to be much more serious and engage in the conversation with the farming sector,” she states. But she insists this should not mean compromising on the EU’s Green Deal. “It is important to show to what extent the Green Deal is a safeguard for farming,” she says. “Agriculture is the primary sector impacted by climate change. The fact is that this will be the third year [in a row] with terrible crops.” For Ribera, the Green Deal is about “energy transition and just transition, working with companies, workers and farmers. This work should be done at the local level, at the national level, and at the European level.”

We also touch on Spanish politics, and the standoff between the government and the Catalan separatist party Junts, over a proposed amnesty law for those involved in the 2017 attempt by pro-independence activists in Catalonia to secede from Spain. If Junts withdraws its support for Prime Minister Sanchez, “that would be a political mistake”, Ribera says. 

“We have a very sincere proposal to find a much more united way to overcome the conflict that we had to suffer in 2017. We are trying to build this reconciliation in Catalonia,” she says. But Ribera rules out new elections. “Our intention is to keep on governing. I don’t think there is an alternative today. I mean, there is contestation from the far right and right but with no proposal; just making noise and saying ‘no’ to everything. So it’s true that we don’t like the polarisation, but for the time being there is no alternative in the parliament, and not even an intention to convene new elections.”

Programme produced by Perrine Desplats, Johan Bodin, Isabelle Romero and Sophie Samaille