In this interview, Marcelino Oreja, President of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences since 2009, gives his views on the value of supranationalism and the fundamental role of the European Commission in preventing institutional paralysis within the European Union (EU). He also discusses Economic and Monetary Union and the question of the economic governance of the EU and the importance of the co-decision procedure particularly as developed through the Treaty of Lisbon, which he believes upholds the main principles of the Constitutional Treaty. Finally, he refers to the methods that need to be implemented to encourage participative democracy and promote the right of initiative.

In this interview, José María Gil-Robles, President of the European Parliament from 1997 to 1999, discusses the principle of solidarity as a central pillar of European integration. He also gives his views on the plan for a constitutional treaty, anticipating a long phase of development and adaptation of the treaties before the European Constitution can be implemented. Finally, he compares the European social model to the US system.

In this interview, José María Gil-Robles, President of the European Parliament from 1997 to 1999, describes the concept of unity in diversity as a definition of European cultural identity and of the linguistic equilibrium within the European institutions, as the European Union undergoes successive enlargements. He also examines the initiatives for a common educational curriculum in Europe.

In this interview, Jordi Pujol, President of Catalonia from 1980 to 2003 and President of the Assembly of European Regions from 1992 to 1996, gives his views on the positive consequences of the process of constitutionalisation of the European Union and on the need to assume both individual and collective responsibilities. He also discusses the universal social protection systems in Europe, comparing them to those of the United States.

On 28 February 2002, in Brussels, at the inaugural session of the Convention on the Future of Europe, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, Member of the Praesidium of the Convention as representative of the European Parliament, gives his views on the future of Europe, reaffirming the European Parliament's support for a people's Europe and for the principle that all Europeans should participate in the European integration process.

The Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, appears in the Madrid Parliament on 15 June 2004 in order to report on Spain’s stance regarding the Intergovernmental Conference and the objectives established by the Meeting of Heads of State or Government of the European Union, amongst which definitive approval of the European Constitution project figures prominently.

On 20 July 2004, in Strasbourg, during the plenary session at which Josep Borrell Fontelles is appointed as President of the European Parliament, he gives an address in which he confirms his support for the ratification of the European Constitutional Treaty. Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, emphasises the importance of this moment in the process for the ratification of the Constitutional Treaty.

Transcript of the appearance of the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé, before the Joint Committee for European Union on 18 October 2004 to examine the convening of a referendum on the draft treaty for the establishment of a Constitution for Europe.

On 20 January 2005, crowds demonstrate in the streets of Madrid to protest against the proposed European Constitution on the margins of the campaign for the referendum on the ratification of the Constitutional Treaty to be held in Spain on 20 February.

On 11 February 2005, on the eve of the referendum held in Spain on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero delivers an address in Barcelona in support of the European Constitution.

On 11 February 2005 in Barcelona, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister, and Jacques Chirac, President of France, hold a joint press conference during which they answer questions on the European Constitution and on the place of Spain and France in the European Union.

On 12 February 2005, demonstrators march through the streets of Bilbao in protest against the proposed European Constitution on the margins of the campaign organised in Spain for the referendum of 20 February on the ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.

On 15 February 2005, Gaspar Llamazares Trigo, General Coordinator of the ‘Izquierda Unida’ (United Left) coalition in Spain, holds a press conference in Murcia at which he announces his support for the ‘No’ vote in the Spanish referendum for the ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, to be held on 20 February.

On 17 February 2005, three days before the Spanish referendum on the ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, Josep Borrell Fontelles, President of the European Parliament, Pasqual Maragall i Mira, President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister, and José Montilla Aguilera, Spanish Minister of Industry, take part in a meeting of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) in Cornellà de Llobregat, Barcelona, in support of the ‘Yes’ vote to the European Constitution.

Le 17 février 2005 à Barcelone, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Premier ministre espagnol, s'exprime en faveur du "oui" à la Constitution européenne dans la perspective du référendum organisé en Espagne le 20 février pour la ratification du traité constitutionnel.

On 18 Feburary 2005, in Madrid, Mariano Rajoy Brey, leader of the People’s Party (PP), argues in favour of the ‘Yes’ vote during a meeting organised two days before the national referendum on the ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.

Analysis by the Elcano Royal Institute setting out the prevailing views in Spain on the state of European integration in March 2006, a time when the European Union is facing the constitutional crisis and the debates on enlargement to the East.

On 23 March 2006, at an official ceremony held to mark the 20th anniversary of the accession to the European Union (EU) of Spain and Portugal, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister, José Sócrates, Portuguese Prime Minister, and Josep Borrell, President of the European Parliament, emphasise the symbolic importance of senior European posts being held by Spanish and Portuguese figures.