Spain-France Treaty Approved
Spanish Government Advances France Friendship Treaty Approval, Bypassing Previous PP Veto
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Spain's government has cleared a key hurdle in its second attempt to ratify the Treaty of Friendship with France. On June 10, the Foreign Affairs Commission of Congress approved the treaty's report by 18 votes to 16, with support from the PSOE, Sumar, and all of the government's parliamentary partners — including Junts and Podemos, the two groups whose abstentions killed the treaty a year ago Europa Press.
The final plenary vote is set for June 18. If it passes, Spain and France will formally ratify a bilateral pact signed in Barcelona in January 2023 — more than three years after Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron described it as a "historical milestone" levante-emv.com.
How the Treaty Was Blocked and Revived
The treaty — known as the Barcelona Treaty — was first put to a vote on May 14, 2025. It failed with 171 votes against, led by the PP, Vox, and UPN. Junts and Podemos chose to abstain, which was enough to sink it diariodemallorca.es. France had already completed its own ratification in March 2025, leaving Spain as the sole holdout.
The central legal dispute was Article 2.4. That clause allows ministers from one country to attend the other's Cabinet meetings at least once every three months. The PP argued this violated Article 98 of the Spanish Constitution, which defines the government as made up exclusively of Spanish officials elperiodicodearagon.com. To break the deadlock, Madrid and Paris reached an "interpretative agreement" in April 2026 — a diplomatic exchange of notes clarifying that foreign ministers would meet "in the margins" of Cabinet sessions, not as voting members laopiniondemurcia.es.
PP Calls It Legal Fraud, Government Calls It Common Sense
The PP is not buying it. Party spokesperson Ricardo Tarno says "nothing has changed" and the text is "exactly the same" as the one Congress rejected last year. He accuses the government of committing "legal fraud" by resubmitting an identical treaty without formally amending it laopiniondemalaga.es.
The government counters that the interpretative agreement is a standard diplomatic tool. PSOE spokesperson Pepe Mercadal argues the clarification fully resolves the constitutional concern. Vox remains flatly opposed, dismissing the treaty's language — including references to "feminist foreign policy" — as "unintelligible chatter" diariodeibiza.es.
Why Junts and Podemos Changed Their Minds
The shift from abstention to support by Junts and Podemos is what makes this second attempt viable. Both parties had previously refused to back the treaty, effectively siding with the right-wing bloc. Their reversal now gives the government a workable majority in the lower house lne.es.
Analysts suggest both parties wanted to avoid being seen as allies of PP and Vox on a major European matter. The interpretative agreement gave them enough political cover to switch sides. The PP still controls the Senate, but the government can use procedural tools to push the treaty through without an upper house majority laopinioncoruna.es.
What the Treaty Actually Does — and What Is at Stake
The Barcelona Treaty is a 36-article pact that replaces a 1997 bilateral framework. It creates a Spanish-French Council of Defense and Security and locks in annual summits between the two governments. Spain would join Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal as the only countries France has signed such a treaty with eldia.es.
Beyond symbolism, the treaty provides the legal backbone for major infrastructure projects — including the H2Med green hydrogen pipeline and new cross-Pyrenees rail links. French minister delegate Éléonore Caroit has urged Spanish parties to back the treaty, saying it "transcends governments" and matters for the stability of the entire bilateral relationship laopiniondemalaga.es.
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