The Constitutional Court (TC) communicated this Wednesday that next week it will examine the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Spain and France, challenged by the Senate, and it will do so based on a report by magistrate Ricardo Enríquez favorable to its constitutionality.
The issue reached the court of guarantees at the request of the Upper House, where the absolute majority of the PP promoted the initiative to determine whether there is a clash between the Spanish Constitution and the section of the treaty that allows a French minister to intervene in the Council of Ministers of the Spanish Executive.
The Plenary of the Constitutional Court will debate the matter based on the draft prepared by Enríquez –part of the conservative sector– which concludes that the text does not violate the Magna Carta, according to information advanced by 'El Español' and confirmed to Europa Press by legal sources.
The court of guarantees decided in July to admit the matter for processing, specifying that the provision questioned by the Senate establishes that "a member of the Government of one of the parties will be invited to the Council of Ministers of the other party, at least once every three months and by rotation."
Then, the TC explained that the Upper House holds that this article could collide with several constitutional provisions and committed to issuing a binding ruling that clarifies whether or not that contradiction exists.
This is the second time that the Senate has resorted to the Constitutional Court for this treaty. It did so in 2025, when the court decided to abstain, understanding that its opinion was not necessary, given that Congress had rejected the text and, consequently, it could not be ratified.
Article 2.4, at the center of the conflict
The core of the disagreement lies in article 2.4 of the treaty, which states that a minister from one of the countries may attend the Council of Ministers of the other, at least once every three months and by rotation, something that the PP considers contrary to the Spanish Constitution.
To try to clear this hurdle, which ultimately frustrated the ratification of the agreement, the foreign ministers of Spain and France reached an understanding in April of this year regarding the interpretation of the provision, establishing that the invitation will be "to participate within the margins of said Council of Ministers in a separate meeting" and not in the actual meeting of the Council.
Despite this, the 'popular' reject this interpretative pact between governments, as the literalness of the questioned article has not been modified to leave it black on white. For this reason, they voted against the ratification of the treaty, signed in January 2023, in Congress and promoted the requirement to the TC from the Senate.
If the Constitutional Court supports the Government's position, the text will return to Congress for a new vote, which is expected to go ahead with the support of the majority of the investiture. The National Assembly and the French Senate already approved the treaty last year, so Paris is awaiting Spain to complete the procedure.
Decision of the TC before Macron's visit
The court's deliberation will take place a few days before the official visit to Spain by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, scheduled for September 29 and 30, during which he will hold meetings with King Felipe VI and the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.
Macron will travel accompanied by his wife, Brigitte Macron, and both will be received by the Kings eight years after their trip to Paris in October 2018. Since then, this state visit had been postponed for various reasons, including the lack of definitive ratification of this Treaty of Friendship.