The report of the magistrate of the Constitutional Court in charge of studying the friendship treaty between France and Spain, which the Senate questioned on two occasions, sees “no contradiction with the Spanish Constitution,” according to El Español and confirmed by EL PAÍS. The Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Spain and France, approved last April after the Congress had rejected it the first time with the votes of the PP and Vox and the abstention of Junts and Podemos, foresees that people who are not strictly part of the Spanish Government may attend a meeting prior to the Council of Ministers. The court will debate next week the report of the magistrate from the conservative sector Ricardo Enríquez, who is expected to have the support of the majority. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will meet in Madrid with the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, on September 30, as officially announced.
Read more Salvador Illa defends the financing model and the solidarity of Catalonia in Extremadura
The Senate, where the PP and Vox hold a majority, blocked the ratification of the treaty for the second time due to doubts regarding article 2.4 of said agreement, which foresees that a member of the Government of each of the two countries may attend a meeting prior to the Council of Ministers of the other, at least once every three months. The rapporteur, however, sees no constitutional obstacle to such attendance — which the treaty also states would take place “on the margins of said Council of Ministers, in a separate meeting” —.
The Constitution, the report recalls, does not even close who can attend the Spanish Council of Ministers, but leaves it open to what the laws stipulate. “The Government is composed of the President, the Vice Presidents, if any, the Ministers, and the other members established by law,” states its article 98.
The Government law, the rapporteur recalls, allows people who do not hold that position to attend the Council of Ministers to inform on matters they know about, without then being able to deliberate or vote in said collegiate body. The fact that the treaty introduces the possibility that one of those people is not Spanish — but French and a member of the Executive of that country — does not contradict the Constitution.
Read more Five injured in a fight with katanas, machetes, and sticks in Lleida
If the expectation that the Constitutional Court will deliberate next week is met and approves the report, the agreement, which was already ratified in France in March 2025, will be cleared before the meeting between Macron and Sánchez on September 30. The halt to the treaty in Congress, thanks to the support of the Popular Party, was the first time that the ratification of an international treaty was rejected in the lower house. The treaty was signed in January 2023 by the French president and the head of the Spanish Government at the bilateral summit in Barcelona.
The next State visit, scheduled for the last days of September, would thus take place with the constitutional horizon of the agreement completely cleared. “Article 2.4 of the Treaty is not contrary to article 98.1 of the Constitution,” according to the report released this Wednesday. Sánchez will receive Macron on September 30 at noon.
Read more ‘The Black Ball’, Spain’s candidate for the Oscars for Best International Feature Film
