Tuesday (March 29th): Sanchez Powers Up

Name? Pedro Sanchez

Westphalian identity? Spanish

Age? 50

Why is he in the news? The past six months, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has lobbied in the EU for energy market reform amidst a gas crunch from Russia and Algeria. After the invasion of Ukraine, it became a priority for the PM to lower energy prices in Spain. Last Friday, the EU  allowed a ‘special treatment’ for Spain and Portugal—who are largely disconnected from Europe’s gas pipeline network—enabling the two to pursue independent energy policy in order to lower consumer costs. 

Why do we care? Pedro Sanchez’s minority government has been through a series of political crises, not least the social unrest brought by the energy costs exacerbated by the invasion of Ukraine. Last week Sanchez flew to Paris and Brussels to lobby for any chance to lower energy prices amidst low popularity at home. In short, his tenure partly depends on this approval. Since the invasion, the PM called the EU ‘hostages’ to Russian gas and pushed for the EU to decouple energy costs from gas prices (Brussels said no to this part).

Why should you care? Last Sunday, a truckers’ strike entered its second week and thousands of farmers protested against Sanchez’s government. In an economy already badly affected by the pandemic, the Spanish government passed a 16B euro package to assuage the economic impacts of high energy prices. You should care 3/10.

Who else cares? Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa has been riding a wave of successes since he came into office and recent reelection with an absolute majority. This new special treatment brings relief to Portugal, which is also recovering from pandemic woes and, still, from the 2008 financial crisis.

Any further comments? The EU and Russia remain at odds over Moscow’s demand for gas payments to be made in rubles, this could result in a disruption of Russian gas flows as early as Friday with devastating effects on Europe’s economy and livelihoods.

Francia Morales

Editor in Chief for Research and Analysis