Moncloa Palace, Madrid
Carolina Darias stressed that "the steps we have been taking to bed down a model of governance will strengthen our system", and that the 22nd Conference of Regional Presidents has clearly shown that "Spain can because Spain is strong".
Sector Conference for European Funds
A Sector Conference for European Funds will meet to strengthen the economic capital, providing extraordinary resources for the major transformations that Spain must introduce. This Sector Conference will be chaired by the Minister for the Treasury, María Jesús Montero, announced the Minister for Territorial Policy and Public Function in her press briefing.
22nd Conference of Regional Presidents
Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaCarolina Darias highlighted that Friday's meeting was used to discuss the agreements reached at the joint meeting of the Sector Conference on Education and the Inter-territorial Health Council held on 27 August, agreements that were highly rated by the regional presidents, with a common framework for action. "It is possible to reach agreements and Spain can and must make progress in this arena for collaboration and coordination", she underlined.
Carolina Darias also announced that a new Conference of Regional Presidents will be held in October, responding to the commitment made by the President of the Government to hold a monthly meeting with the regional presidents while the pandemic lasts.
The government continues to work on the major challenges announced at the start of the legislature, although "the pandemic has accelerated these transformations", to which end the European funds will be essential, as will the National Budget, which will structure and form the implementation of these funds. "Europe gave a united response and Spain must also provide a united response, approving a Budget which will be the backbone of the country's transformation".
The country is facing its greatest challenge, life has changed us all, stressed the minister, wondering "if it makes sense to continue using the 2018 Budget when Spain then was very different to Spain today. All the regional presidents have called for unity, understanding and recognition of the work done, for example, achieving the return to school, and they continue to call for greater coordination, more common frameworks and more action through unity".
Co-governance
Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe Conference of Regional Presidents is the top multilateral cooperation forum between Central Government and the governments of the autonomous regions and cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
Minister Darias stated that our country, like others, has faced the worst health challenge in recent history. And faced with this adversity, the Government of Spain has established an institutional mechanism, through co-governance, to provide a response to contain the spread of the virus and strengthen our public health system, and has also pushed through a raft of actions designed to maintain our economic activity and protect people from the social consequences.
She explained that this joint work meant that we won, in the first instance, the battle against the pandemic, saving hundreds of thousands of lives and this model of co-governance must help the recovery, the transformation and make our country more resilient.
"It falls to all of us to contribute to the social and economic recovery of our country. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. "We cannot risk misunderstanding because the virus is still out there and the fight goes on", she claimed.
In this regard, she added that "until such time as we definitively defeat this cursed pandemic, we must continue to design a coordinated response by all tiers of government to keep the virus at bay and build a new country that allows us to face the future with all due guarantees".
At Friday's meeting, the regional presidents discussed the problems, diagnoses and shared responses that give us a common framework for action in all the regions of Spain. They highly rated the agreement reached at the Sector Conference to make education centres safe and healthy havens and highlighted the firm commitment of all regional governments to convey confidence and hope.
Fiscal and Financial Policy Council
Carolina Darias also recalled that this month the Minister for the Treasury will call the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council, attending to one of the commitments taken on by President of the Government Sánchez at the Conference of Regional Presidents held at San Millán de la Cogolla back in July.
Non official translation
Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa