PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK ‘UNA PICA EN FLANDES. LA HUELLA DE ESPAÑA EN LA UNIÓN EUROPEA’, BY JAVIER ELORZA

On June 6 took place in Brussels the presentation of the book “Una pica en Flandes. La huella de España en la Unión Europea” (Editorial Debate), written by Ambassador Javier Elorza, and attended by MEP Javier Zarzalejos.

During the event, a colloquium was held on the long and complex process of negotiating Spain’s entry into the European Union, with the participation of Javier Elorza and the Spanish Ambassador to Belgium, Alberto Antón. The event was also attended by the Director General of Legal Affairs of the European Commission, Daniel Calleja, and the former director, Luis Romero.

In this book, the author guides us through the more unknown side of European politics. A career diplomat and civil servant, this personal chronicle of his journey from 1986 to 2004 as a member of the permanent representation of Spain in Europe, where he held the main positions, shows the European Union from the inside, with power struggles, weak balances of power, variable pacts, secret agreements and national interests as the real protagonists, sometimes in a stark and brutal way.

In this unprecedented and privileged vision, Elorza opens the doors of the offices and the backrooms of the community institutions, and unravels the role that Spain has played in Europe since its accession in 1986, as well as the economic and social impulse that this has meant for our country. From the hand of Felipe González or José María Aznar, it relates in a pleasant and direct way the ins and outs of the arduous and exhausting negotiations that in Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice or Lisbon always resulted in more prominence and integration of Spain in the Union.