The leaders’ conference will discuss the PSD’s request for an emergency debate in parliament on the “Iberian Energy Interconnection Agreement(aka “Corredor Verde”) reached last week between Portugal, Spain and France. The Social Democrats want the discussion to take place Thursday, in the presence of the Prime Minister, right after the general vote on OE2023.
The “orange” initiative comes as a logical sequel to the PSD’s harsh criticism of the agreement signed last week between Costa, French President Macron and the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez. The agreement defines the energy connection from Portugal and Spain to France and from here to the rest of Europe. A maritime gas pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille (called BarMar) will be developed instead of a passage through the Pyrenees. The timetable, funding sources and costs related to the implementation of BarMar will be discussed at a new three-way meeting scheduled for December 9 in Alicante (Spain).
“He knows nothing about energy, he totally ignores everything to do with this deal and if you go through what I’ve said about anything and everything over the years, you’ll notice that the speed of disapproval from Paulo Rangel is very high.”
In parliamentary terms, the PSD was the most critical party of the agreement. On the day it was announced, former Environment Minister Jorge Moreira da Silva – removed from politics since being defeated by Montenegro in the PSD leadership dispute last May – wrote on Twitter that “it is a historic victory that an embarrassment.” “Two of the three planned interconnections between Spain and France were scrapped. The Bay of Biscay remained and the commitment to build the two interconnections in the Pyrenees disappeared,” he added.
“France accepted that the obstacle in the Pyrenees had to be circumvented and that we would reach Marseille. From Portugal’s point of view, it is fundamental to reach Spain and for Spain to reach France. It is decisive for us.”
On Sunday, MEP Paulo Rangel, now vice president of the PSD, said he was facing a “matter of national strategic importance” so that his party “failed to comply with an agreement that would harm [o país] and harms Europe.” The PSD, he added, “does not accept the propaganda of the government and the PS, nor the arrogance of those who think they are in charge of the national interest”.
The prime minister said Monday that he was “absolutely stunned” by what he heard from the PSD and “other people”, “who had a duty” to be “minimally informed about this agreement”. Rangel was one of the targets of Costa’s bewilderment: “He knows nothing about energy, he completely ignores everything to do with this agreement and, over the years, if you come to review what I’ve already said about everything and everything other, it will be clear that the failure rate of Paulo Rangel is very high.”
“Politics is not exactly made of the ideal, it is made of what is possible and here the possible is nothing or a reality like this.”
Stressing that there is now an agreement, he added: “France has accepted that the obstacle in the Pyrenees is bypassed and we reach Marseille. From Portugal’s point of view, it is fundamental to reach Spain and Spain to reach France. between Barcelona and Marseille, that is not decisive for us.”
Chega also criticized the agreement and the liberal initiative. The president of the republic, on the other hand, praised that it is better than nothing: “Politics is not made of the ideal, it is made of what is possible and here the possible is nothing or a reality like this.”
Source: DN
