Government approves distribution of 166.8 million additional euros allocated to active employment policies

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The Council of Ministers, chaired by the Vice-President of the Government, Minister for the Presidency and for the Territorial Administrations, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, approved the distribution of an additional 166.8 million euros among the regional governments for active employment policies.

The Government Spokesperson, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, at the press briefing following the Council of Ministers, stated that "this is a similar agreement to the one adopted back in April", at the Employment and Labour Affairs Sector Conference, and approved by the Council of Ministers on 5 May this year.

129 million euros for long-term unemployed

The Government Spokesperson added that this agreement, with the support of all the regional governments, was charged to the Budget for 2016. Now, with the Budget for 2017 in force, the new distribution will be effected.

Íñigo Méndez de Vigo also explained that "of this additional amount, 129 million euros will be allocated to financing the joint action programme to improve the attention given to the long-term unemployed".

In this regard, he stressed that the aim is "to improve attention offered to job seekers who are long-term unemployed aged between 30 and 50" and to thus continue "down the inclusive path of economic recovery and translate this recovery into social policies".

Changes to ITV and public transport subsidy in Canary Islands

The Council of Ministers also approved a Royal Decree by which certain aspects of the regulation on the Technical Inspection of Vehicles (ITV) are made more flexible with the aim of adapting this to European legislation. These changes will affect personnel, training, installation, equipment and procedures, whereby the main aim is to improve road safety and environmental protection.

Pool Moncloa/JM.CuadradoMinister Méndez de Vigo also reported on the decision taken by the Council of Ministers to grant the Regional Government of the Canary Islands "a nominative subsidy for the terrestrial passenger transport system".

This amounts to 27.5 million euros, "10% higher than last year", which will be allocated to "improving the quality of passenger public services" in this autonomous region, explained the Government Spokesperson. Hence, he added, "the agreements that the government signed with the different political forces in the Canary Islands are met".

In relation to the Council of Ministers, the government also approved an institutional declaration on the occasion of the European Day against Human Trafficking held on 18 October.

Catalonia

The Government Spokesperson also reported on the government's decision to challenge the agreement adopted by the Regional Government of Catalonia on 2 October, setting up a committee on the violation of fundamental rights in Catalonia.

Íñigo Méndez de Vigo stressed that this committee does not seek to investigate all violations of rights, but rather "to document, determine and disseminate violations of fundamental rights on the occasion of the attempt to hold a referendum on self-determination".

According to the explanation offered by the Government Spokesperson, this agreement by the Regional Government of Catalonia has caused "a series of unconstitutional situations", since this "violates powers that exclusively correspond to the State", as well as many other principles, such as the presumption of innocence, the prohibition on helplessness and the guarantee to the right to honour.

Pool Moncloa/JM. CuadradoÍñigo Méndez de Vigo added that the aforesaid committee does not "provide for the transfer of investigations to judicial bodies, which is also unconstitutional and contrary to procedural legislation". Moreover, it establishes that the Regional Police Force of Catalonia "will serve the new regulated committee, which strengthens its design as a form of quasi-judicial agency".

Extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers

The Government Spokesperson also mentioned the extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers, which will take place on Saturday to activate Article 155 of the Constitution. Íñigo Méndez de Vigo insisted that the application to set this article in motion "is backed by a broad majority in the Spanish Parliament" and added that the only people responsible for this situation are "Mr Puigdemont and the members of his government".

The Government Spokesperson also claimed that Article 155 is "one more element of the Constitution", and the aim of activating it is to "restore constitutional and statutory legality", both of which have been "violated" by the decisions adopted by the Regional Parliament of Catalonia on 6 and 7 September.

Current affairs

When asked for his opinion about the debate on the recovery of education powers in Catalonia, the Minister for Education, Culture and Sport expressed his interest, within the framework of a future constitutional reform, in the Constitution containing the principle of loyalty under which regional provisions must respect State legislation.

He also expressed his preference for strengthening the powers of the State Inspectorate whilst respecting the powers of the autonomous regions. According to the minister and Government Spokesperson, the ideal location to address this issue "with calm" is the committee in the Lower House of Parliament that is working "with a very significant consensus" on the Education Pact.

As regards the return of the so-called Quimbaya Treasure to Colombia, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo recalled that this was a legacy offered to the Queen Regent, María Cristina, and that in the event of receiving an official demand from the Colombian State for its return to the country, "we will do what we always do with friendly nations, which is look into this matter closely".

Non official translation