- Meeting with Spain’s Secretary of State for the EU
- Address to the Spanish Parliament’s EU Committee
- Visit to Ornua plant
The Minister for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne T.D., travels to Madrid on Monday 12 July to meet with Juan González-Barba Pera, Spanish Secretary of State for EU and to address Spain’s Joint Parliamentary Committee on the EU, including the Committee’s Chair, Deputy Susana Sumelzo Jordán.
Minister Byrne said “I am so pleased to visit Madrid for the first time in my role as Minister for European Affairs. This is an excellent opportunity to discuss key EU issues, and is a demonstration of the excellent relationship between Ireland and Spain. The friendship between our two countries is one that has strong roots in history. We want this to continue to grow and adapt to new opportunities. In that regard, I am delighted to invite Secretary Barba to make a reciprocal visit to Ireland in the autumn, depending on his commitments.”
A wide range of issues will be discussed in the meetings, including EU-UK relations, European economic recovery, COVID-19, rule of law issues, the EU-Mercosur Agreement and the Conference on the Future of Europe.
The Minister will also travel to Ávila, a provincial capital northwest of Madrid, to visit an Ornua factory there. Ornua, which employs over 120 staff in the region, is an Irish agri-food cooperative which markets and sells dairy products on behalf of Irish dairy processors and Irish dairy farmers.
ENDS
12 July 2021
