Press conference by President of the Government following G-20 Summit

Hamburg

President of the Government.- Ladies and gentlemen, a very good afternoon to you and thank you very much for attending this press conference.

I appear here, as you know, to take stock of the Hamburg G-20 Summit that has taken place yesterday and today, but please allow me, first of all, to express my satisfaction at the news of the release from prison of the Venezuelan opposition leader, Leopoldo López.

After having spent more than three years in Ramo Verde Prison, I believe that we should all welcome this news. It is true that he is not truly at liberty as he remains under house arrest, but at least he is at home with his family, who have fought so hard for him. We see what has happened as a step in the right direction, a first but very important step, which should represent the start of a process of national reconciliation and the release of all political prisoners.

The situation in Venezuela was precisely the subject of attention in the debates at the G-20 Summit, despite not appearing, as you know, on the agenda, and all the Ibero-American leaders have expressed our concern at the direction things are taking; that is, the President of Argentina, the President of Mexico, the President of Brazil and myself. We all agree on calling for a democratic, peaceful and negotiated solution there, the necessary first step of which must be the release of all political prisoners and the calling of free and democratic elections.

I will move on now to comment on my assessment of this G-20 Summit. As you know, the rotating presidency this year fell to Germany, which set out certain priorities that Spain supported: the fight against terrorism, the problems of immigration, trade, sustainable growth and employment, and climate change. These are all issues of great importance that affect people's lives, their security, development and well-being.

This edition of the G-20 began with a retreat at which we spoke about terrorism, a global threat which, as you are aware, requires close international collaboration from us all. That is why it is very important that this subject has been chosen for the opening debate of the leaders of the G-20 at this summit, a debate which took place, as you know, yesterday morning.
During this debate, we observed the existence of a consensus on the three fundamental cornerstones: the need for concerted global counter-terrorism action, cooperation between countries, the fight against terrorist financing and the prevention of radicalisation, particularly over the Internet.

Furthermore, the Hamburg Declaration contains, upon a Spanish initiative, the recognition and support for victims of terrorism as a key principle in the fight against terrorism. This leading role by the victims is, above all, a moral principle, but it is also a decisive element in creating an alternative narrative to that of the terrorists. I believe that this contribution is particularly important now as we remember, 20 years on, the release of Ortega Lara and the kidnapping and murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco.

Furthermore, over these days we have spoken about other issues of global interest of which I will mainly focus on four of them.

First, growth in the global economy and trade. We agreed that the global growth forecasts have improved, although there is still a lot to do to ensure that this growth is sufficiently strong, inclusive, balanced and sustainable. And that, in our opinion, can be achieved through structural reforms in each individual country and these reforms are reflected in the Action Plan that we have approved and in the growth strategies for each country that we have updated.

Furthermore, we must jointly undertake actions that increase our capacity to grow. To achieve that, we have sent out a clear message in favour of trade and investment as drivers of growth, productivity, innovation and, above all, the creation of employment and development and also a clear message against protectionism whilst seeking to ensure that everyone plays by a rulebook that is the same for each country, and acknowledging that the benefits of trade should filter down to all citizens.

All of this is in line with the economic policy we have been applying in Spain for more than five years now and which has led us to head up the main economies in the Eurozone in terms of economic growth. As you know, we have just upwardly revised - this is the second time we have done that this year - the growth forecasts for 2017 to 3% in Spain, compared with the forecast of 1.9% for the Eurozone as a whole, which also coincide with the forecasts of this zone.

Moreover, this recovery and this growth are translating very clearly and very directly into job creation. Over the last two years - 2015 and 2016 - one million jobs have been created in Spain, almost another half a million jobs have been created in just the first five months of this year - we have the figures there from the social security system. The goal we set at the start of this term of office, and which you are aware of, was to see 20 million people in work by 2019, which I believe, if we continuing maintaining this rhythm and continue working in the right direction, will be attained, and perhaps even surpassed.

Secondly, as well as trade, economic growth and employment, we have spoken about digitalisation. Digitalisation means, as you know, a far-reaching technological revolution that offers growth and job opportunities, but it also requires from us an unprecedented ability to adapt in many areas. In the job market, which clearly interests us, and a great deal, we must work on training and on adapting workers so that no-one is left out. Added to which this training will allow them to find better quality jobs. Furthermore, digitalisation can be an effective instrument for training groups with reduced access to a quality education and training.

There are other facets of digitalisation on which we must work in a concerted fashion and on which Spain is already working: the rollout of high-capacity networks, the development of digital platforms and the digital economy in general and the protection of certain goods and rights in the digital environment, such as the protection of intellectual property and also consumer protection, the rights of minors and the right to privacy, etc.; the digital transformation of industry and services - undoubtedly a key issue for the development of a country that does not want to be left behind and to continue generating growth and jobs - and there are other facets such as cyber-security and the taxation of goods and services that are sold online, taxing them where their value is generated.

Third, we spoke about climate change. The G-20 leaders addressed this issue. I am reasonably satisfied with the results. The statement contains the maintenance of the group commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in which clean emissions obviously play a very important role. We have taken note of the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, but the rest of the countries that make up the G-20 have reaffirmed our commitment to the agreement and we have acknowledged this as something irreversible.

Finally, I wish to stress the attention we have paid to the issue of immigration. On other occasions, I have expressed my conviction that immigration is the main challenge of our times. This is not only taking place in Europe, but in general around the planet and it will continue to take place as long as there are no opportunities to live a dignified life, to work and make progress in many places around the world.

Upon a proposal from the German Presidency of the G-20, I gave the opening speech at the debate among the leaders on migratory issues. I would thank the presidency for the acknowledgement of Spain's extensive experience in a matter of such importance. The statement contains three principles that Spain has now been applying for a long time:

• Firstly, the need to tackle the root causes of migration and the need to create economic and life opportunities in countries of origin, in particular, among young people because this is the only thing that is going to help avoid the drama and the risks that unfortunately result all too often from illegal immigration.
• Secondly, the need to fight the human trafficking networks, cooperating with the countries of origin and transit, and also helping them to strengthen their own law enforcement and institutional capabilities to allow them to better patrol their own borders and combat criminal organisations.
• And thirdly, the importance of guaranteeing the safe, swift and humanitarian return of those people who are not entitled to remain in the territory of a State.

Lastly, integration is also very important. I highlighted that in the General State Budget for this year 2017, Spain will allocate almost 300 million euros to integration projects.

On this matter which, I repeat, is one of the main challenges of our times, there are no short-cuts or simple solutions. It will be necessary to make a long-term commitment and to strengthen the resources available. I believe that, in the end, we have reached an agreement at this summit… I repeat, if I had to summarise what I said in my speech, there are two things that are key for me: first, the need to speak, to talk and continue talking with the countries of origin and with the countries of transit through which these people travel; and second, we must help them so that people have opportunities in these countries, both to live and to have professional opportunities.

Finally, I want to say that I have held two bilateral meetings; one with the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, just a short time ago. We have spoken about various issues, above all about an issue that is important to all of us, but particularly to the people of Mexico, which is the updated global agreement it has with the European Union which we would like to work to firm it up as soon as possible.

You know that we are also working to reach an agreement with MERCOSUR where things have now changed and there is an interest, both from the Government of Brazil, a country I visited not long ago, and from the Government of Argentina, as well as those of Uruguay and Paraguay, that we could close off soon. I hope that we manage to do this. We have already just recently reached an agreement with Japan, which is very important, and before that with Canada, and I believe that the world truly needs to move in this direction and that the more open the markets are, the better for everyone. This gives more opportunities for the people and also more possibilities for those people who consume goods and services, which of course is all of us.

I also held a meeting with the President of Indonesia. We have invited him to visit Spain. Next year is the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. A president of Indonesia has never before visited Spain and a president of the Government of Spain has never before visited Indonesia. You know that Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world in terms of number of inhabitants, with more than 259 million people, principally from the Muslim faith, with a moderate government that is working to improve the level of well-being and wealth of its population, and I believe that it would be very positive for us to step up relations with this country.

In conclusion, my balance of this summit has been very positive. We have observed that the economic policies that need to be implemented are those that Spain has been working on for years, such as structural reforms, macro-economic stability, employment and digitalisation. Furthermore, several priority issues for Spain have been included, such as the defence of an open trading system based on rules, the need to fight protectionism, cooperation on fiscal matters and greater work at origin to tackle the challenge of migration and ensure more sustained and inclusive growth. We are also very pleased, as I said at the beginning, with the conclusions on the matter of terrorism. Nowadays in Europe, according to some sociological studies we have seen recently, this is the main concern, and rightly so I'm afraid, of many European citizens following the events you are aware of that have taken place in recent months.

Aside from that, I am ready to take any questions you may have.

Q.- Guillermo Pascual, from Antena 3. I wanted to ask you how you view, how you assess, the isolation of the United States from the rest of the members, which has been very evident on such issues as trade and climate change. I don't know whether because of the weight of the country you feel that this could hold back other countries. And how do you assess, how have you seen, the figure of President Trump? Yesterday, Minister Luis de Guindos said to us that he had seen a more conciliatory tone from him; I don't know whether you also view things that way.

President of the Government.- I don't want to contradict you, but I don't believe that we can talk about the isolation of President Trump. The conclusions were adopted unanimously and it is true that on one issue, one specific issue, which is climate change, the United States has taken a decision to not be a party to the agreements that were adopted at the Paris Conference. The rest of us maintain a different position but, at any event, it has also expressed its interest in reducing emissions. We will have to wait and see what happens in the future but, as Chancellor Merkel pointed out in a press appearance a few minutes ago, you have to reflect on dissent and, when you agree to reflect on dissent, you are already starting down the path to reach a consensus. But, I repeat, the majority of the conclusion have been reached with the agreement of all the members and it was only on this one issue, although this was made clear, that the United States has adopted a different position.

As regards how I view his participation, I view this well. He was very active, he took part on various occasions, he was very clear on the issue of the fight against terrorism and he was also in favour of free trade. Another thing, and we also advocate this in Europe, is that we must all be reciprocal on trade, there must be rules that are the same for everyone and that everyone respects them. That seems very reasonable to me. And I haven't seen anything on which he was in serious disagreement, albeit respecting the different nuances that anyone may display with the rest of the people that were sat down at this summit.

Q.- Jorge Valero, from 'El Economista'. You said that your conclusion is that this has been very positive, but there were two issues that were going to serve to gauge, let's say, the health of the multilateral system, which were trade and climate. A common position was not reached on climate, as you have reminded us, and on the issue of trade, Chancellor Merkel has also just said a short while ago that this issue will be very difficult. If an agreement is not reached by August on the matter of steel, there may be, let's say, a response and disciplinary measures may be imposed by and on some countries. I would like to know if you believe that the results have not been, to some extent, disappointing on these two points.

President of the Government.-No. Quite frankly, I don't see things that way. Furthermore, we have dealt with many issues. I have referred to the issue of terrorism, economic growth, the need to undertake structural reforms, and we all have to deal with the issues of digitalisation, but then, on the issue of trade, a very broad consensus was seen. There are specific, one-off problems, such as the matter of the steel sector, but we must all be subject to the same rules and what I have called for is that the agreements should be applied that were adopted in Hangzhou on this matter of excess capacity, at the last G-20 Summit, which took place last year.

I believe that at this time in the world, free trade agreements are being reached, as I mentioned earlier, and that this is very positive. In other words, the free trade agreement with Japan, which is one of the most important world economies, a country with one of the highest GDPs and incomes, is tremendously positive in my opinion. The same is true of Canada and the fact that work is being done at present, for the first time with any real possibilities of achieving something, on the issue of MERCOSUR, should be valued positively in my opinion, which is what I am doing.

On the issue of climate change, there are 20 countries here and 19 have reaffirmed our commitments. One another country did not do this on one specific issue, but that doesn't mean it is a failure. If you say to me that, as your colleague said at the beginning, that you thought other countries would join in, then no. We have a very specific problem here, but let's see how things pan out in the future. In all honesty, and I have attended several meeting now of the G-20, I believe that this has been one of the most positive.

Q.- Juande Colmenero, from Onda Cero. I would like to ask you about the meeting you held on Thursday with the General Secretary of the Socialist Party, Pedro Sánchez, at Moncloa Palace. Following this meeting, the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party] reported that they were going to immediately propose, even before 1 October, "specific legislative measures" in relation to Catalonia. I would like to ask you whether Pedro Sánchez spoke about this with you, what he meant by this and what legislative measures you think can be taken in this regard.

And in relation to Catalonia, I wanted to ask you whether the government rules out, as has been published, applying any articles of the Constitution, such as Article 155.

President of the Government.- In the talk I had with Pedro Sánchez last Thursday, I believe that, in relation to the events that are unfolding in Catalonia, our opinions were in line and we were in general agreement. Aside from that, what I want is for this harmony to continue and for this general agreement to continue in the future. Hence, I believe that it is better not to analyse and comment on any of the initiatives, but, I repeat, I was satisfied at the position I saw from him in relation to what is happening in Catalonia.

As regards whether I rule out, I don't rule out or not rule out anything, but I am the President of the Government and I should never get ahead of events, or indeed hypothesise or not. The only thing I would say is that I am not going to authorise a referendum, first, because it is absolutely illegal, and hence the President of the Government cannot knowingly break the law, and secondly because it does not fall to me but rather to the Lower House of Parliament and then to the people of Spain as a whole. And that is without going into the heart of the matter on which, as you will appreciate, I am absolutely opposed to one part of the Spanish people deciding on what the whole of Spain should be. In other words, I am absolutely opposed to liquidating the principle of national sovereignty and the right of all the people of Spain to decide on their country.

Hence, this referendum will not be held; it cannot be held because it is absolutely illegal, it is not supported by anyone; not a single country in the international community supports it, and in all reality, believe me if I say to you that at this time what is needed is a little common sense and reflection from certain people who are causing great harm and generating division by proposing something that, as we all know, is absolutely ridiculous.

Q.- Mariano Calleja, from the daily 'ABC'. You began by speaking about Leopoldo López. I wanted to ask you about the position of your main partner - Ciudadanos - who just yesterday was calling for much greater resolution from the Government of Spain on Venezuela, and even called for the break-off of relations and to summon the ambassador for consultations. I wanted to know you assessment of this position by your partner in the Lower House at this time in Spain.

On another note, as regards the G-20 Summit, I wanted to know, President of the Government, if any assessment of the economic and political situation in Spain has been made by the other political leaders; if they have made any remarks to you on the economic situation and these reforms that you mentioned earlier.

President of the Government.- I respect the opinions of everyone but I am clearly not going to break off diplomatic relations. We have no intention at this time of breaking off diplomatic relations with absolutely anyone, and hence, the other political forces can say and do as they please. The government runs foreign policy, and hence, it will continue to run foreign policy. Furthermore, believe me that if this served any purpose… But I would love to hear what they think they are going to achieve by doing this and why there is not a single country in the world that has broken off diplomatic relations.

Hence, we are going to operate sensibly and with common sense, and we are going to continue applying pressure for the political prisoners to be freed and democracy restored. On this issue, it is not opportune to make sweeping statements or to try and provide brilliant ideas, but rather it is better to persevere within the realms of common sense and the habitual rules of international law.

As regards the other question, I remember that the first time I attended a meeting of the G-20 was in Los Cabos, in Baja California, in Mexico. That meeting was truly given over to the issue of Spain and the situation that could take place in the Eurozone as a result of the Spanish economy at that time. I remember that there was even a meeting among the European leaders and the President of the United States, who was Mr Obama at that time. There was tremendous concern at that time; those were times in which some people raised the idea of whether the Euro was going to collapse or whether Europe was going to work at two speeds. Now in all truth, and believe me when I say this is very comforting, we started to see this in Brisbane when I was entrusted with making the introductory speech on structural reforms.

I have defended the economic policy we have undertaken. I have defended it, among other reasons, because it has proven to be useful. In other words, Spain has already recovered 10% of the Gross Domestic Product it lost during five years of negative growth. Sometimes we don't remember this, but we have gone through the worst economic crisis in our history with five years of negative growth. We had never before even seen two years of back-to-back negative growth; never before; we had only ever before seen four sporadic years of negative growth and on this occasion, five straight years. We have recovered this, we are recovering employment at a good pace; we are also seeing permanent employment, and we then have another figure that is not sufficiently well valued but I believe that this is a very important figure for Spain: at this time the number of women in work in Spain is at a record high in our country. That is a positive fact.

Hence, I repeat, I believe that we must persevere with our economic policy, persevere with controlling the public accounts - this is very important; this year we have a target of 3.1%, when it got as high as a deficit of 11% - and also persevere with structural reforms.

Q.- I wanted to ask you whether you have any more information available or, if not, what analysis you make of what is behind the release of Leopoldo López. Why now and why suddenly?

President of the Government.- Why have they freed him now? Because there has been over all this time… First, Leopoldo López has spent more than three years in prison and he hasn't done anything. So we are faced with a clearly authoritarian act, that is unbecoming of a democratic country, by sending him to prison. In other words, no-one can be sent to prison for their political ideas or for holding a different position to that of the government.

Second, Leopoldo López is still in a situation in which he is not a free man, because he is under house arrest, which still seems incredibly unfair to me, which doesn't mean that I don't maintain what I said before, that this is a step in the right direction, albeit a clearly insufficient step.

And third, a great deal of pressure has been applied by the international community. The former President of the Government, [José Luis] Rodríguez Zapatero has been very active on these issues; I spoke with him earlier today. I believe that this is the approach we have to take and on which we must work.

Q.- Albert Calatrava, from Cataluña Radio. Two questions. Today, the President of the Regional Government of Catalonia, [Carles] Puigdemont textually stated at an event that "the Government of Spain is capable of doing whatever it takes to stop the referendum, that this makes him very afraid and makes his hair stand on end". My question is whether you believe that the people of Catalonia should fear any kind of reprisals.

Then, this week we have seen a councillor resign; there is also a division of opinion between Podemos Cataluña and the party management in Madrid regarding the event on 1 October, and I would like to know whether you are aware that there are more doubts within the pro-independence forces on the referendum the closer we get to 1 October.

President of the Government.- The President of the Regional Government of Catalonia has said that the Government of Spain and the President of the Government are capable of anything. I am going to explain to you what I am prepared to do, which is not just anything: I will do exactly the opposite of what Mr Puigdemont is doing. Mr Puigdemont is liquidating the Spanish Constitution and the law. I will not do anything - I repeat, anything, outside of the law; in other words, exactly the opposite of what Mr Puigdemont is doing.

Hence, I am not capable of doing just anything; I am only capable of doing what I am allowed to at law, and which I believe is positive for defending the general interests of the majority of the citizens of Catalonia and of our whole country. And, in this regard, it would be highly desirable for the Regional Government of Catalonia to start to comply with the law and not systematically breach it.

That is the slight difference between our and their positions and the actions.

As regards the other issue, indeed, I do know that there are different positions in Podemos on this matter, as there also are in other political parties. I believe that it is positive that more and more people are starting to realise that what is being done is ridiculous and goes against the interests of the people of Catalonia, and goes against our history, against our future and against the interests of all the people of Spain. I believe that any stance or disagreement with an approach that gives the idea that you cannot disagree with it and which is hence an imposition, which is outside of the law and which is not recognised by anyone outside of our country will be positive under any circumstance.

We have seen draft laws published such as the Legal Transience Act and we have now seen the announcement of a Referendum Act, which are absolutely unbecoming of a democracy, that is, they have absolutely nothing to do with what our country is. Hence, any stance against this will be well received and let's hope that many people adopt this as time goes by, because this is necessary to return to reason and common sense.

Q.- Miguel González, from 'El País'. You mentioned a moment ago that you had spoken with the former President of the Government, [José Luis] Rodríguez Zapatero this morning. I don't know whether the government had any advance warning of the release, well the release from prison, of Mr Leopoldo López; or whether this has anything to do with the trip that [José Luis] Rodríguez Zapatero made a few days ago to Venezuela or whether the government, at any event, continues to back the mediation of the former President of the Government, [José Luis] Rodríguez Zapatero who, on another note, has been widely criticised and questioned by the Venezuelan opposition.

One final question, if you will allow me. You have declared your intention to maintain, let's say, the consensus we saw the other day with Mr Pedro Sánchez in relation to the situation in Catalonia. I wanted to know, firstly, whether the government will maintain this contact with the Socialist Party, whether it will extend this to other parties and whether, in some way, the government wishes to reach a consensus with the pro-Constitution parties on the response to this challenge by the Regional Government of Catalonia, such that each step taken by the government is a joint step by all the pro-Constitution forces.

President of the Government.- I have spoken with some political forces on this matter recently and, logically, what the government wants to do is to integrate. This is a sufficiently important and substantive matter to encourage us to all join together in defending what, furthermore, we also created together, which is the unity of Spain, national sovereignty, the Constitution and, if you will allow me, common sense which, in addition, is set out in these ideas that I mentioned before. Hence, I have spoken with other political forces and I will do whatever is in my hands to join forces to ensure that we can all contribute our own ideas and reach a solution that is positive for everyone. I have no interest in not doing what I have just mentioned, and furthermore, I will talk about this matter on a regular basis.

In relation to what you asked me about the situation in Venezuela, the government's position is absolutely clear. I was the first President of the Government in the world to receive Leopoldo López's wife. I believe that this was positive, because thenceforth other people received her in other countries. The Government of Spain has done everything that is reasonable and fair to ensure that things are resolved.

Mr Rodríguez Zapatero formed part of a group of mediators, he was a President of the Government, and there were other Heads of Government there and the Secretary of State of the Vatican, and he moved all the right pieces in an endeavour to build. Some things came off well, others not so well; but I believe that in this case it is fair to say that he contributed to this matter. The government, like everyone else, had no idea of the exact time or date, but we had some information on this matter.

Q.- María Dabán, from Cadena Cope. This week the "ceiling on spending" will be debated. I would like to know whether the government is confident of pushing this through.

On another note, you have said that you hope to show a united front on the issue of Catalonia with Pedro Sánchez. Did the other day's meeting serve to at least return to a certain level of normality in relations? I'm not saying that things are a bed of roses, but…

President of the Government.- Yes. The meeting, yes. I have said this already, and I am not going to say anything different because I would not be telling the truth, to what the Government Spokesperson, Mr Méndez de Vigo, said, in a press briefing a few minutes afterwards.

I believe that this was a meeting at which we reviewed some issues we know as State affairs, during which I said to him that it was good, reasonable and positive for us to talk about and to try to reach an understanding. We spoke about defence policy, we spoke about the fight against terrorism, we spoke about national security, we spoke about the issue of Catalonia… There are issues where things may be more difficult, but I believe that the President of the Government and the Leader of the Opposition should have a civil, correct and normal relationship, and then each one can defend his own position. I believe that the other day's meeting we held was good and that we will now see what we are capable of building.

As regards whether I am confident about the "ceiling on spending", I will be so after the vote is held. What I can say is that I have worked hard on this matter, I have been personally involved over recent days and, in all honesty, it would be very positive for Spain for the "ceiling on spending", the stability targets and the new Budget to be approved because, I repeat, this year we started with a growth forecast of 2.5%, we have moved to a growth forecast now of 3% and next year could be good as well.

The question is to send out a message of stability because, if in the first five months of the year, which are now six, we have more than half a million new contributors to the social security system, this is a very positive figure, we must take advantage of this now because we may even reach the figure of 20 million people in work before the year 2020. Now, we must maintain our policies, the "ceiling on spending"… Of course, we have raised the spending for next year by 1.3% and we will try to reduce the deficit to 2.2%.

In other words, there is still work to do, but I believe that we are doing things reasonably well. I repeat, a rise in 1.3% in spending, below the nominal growth of the economy, is something very reasonable, that is what the rule states and, furthermore, that will allow us to enjoy growth and create jobs. Hence, I believe that maintaining this situation is good for our country and for the people that live here.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.