Pedro Sánchez stresses that agreement reached in Brussels will mean transformations that country needs can be addressed

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

At the government control session in the Lower House of Parliament, Pedro Sánchez praised the resistance, social discipline and scent for victory of the Spanish people in response to an unprecedented pandemic in the last 100 years. "Thanks to your efforts, we have managed to contain the virus during all these months", he stated in his response to the question posed by the MP, Pablo Casado, from the People's Parliamentary Group.

The President of the Government also underlined the importance, in the fight against the pandemic, that the state of emergency has had at a national level, approved by a parliamentary majority, and also the agreement reached at the extraordinary European Council that concluded on Tuesday in Brussels, at a European level.

According to Pedro Sánchez, the approval by the Heads of State and Government of the European Union of the Recovery Fund of 750 billion euros represents "an historic agreement for the economic recovery of our country, not only in offering a response to the COVID-19 crisis, but also to the transformations needed". The President of the Government added that this agreement is a "great collective and Spanish achievement" and is 95% satisfactory for Spain and 100% for the whole of the EU.

Institutional loyalty and utmost collaboration in tackling spikes

The President of the Government expressed his concern over the spread of the pandemic around the world, in Europe and in Spain as mentioned in the question posed by the MP, Edmundo Bal, of the Ciudadanos Parliamentary Group.

The government, he said, is also responding to the crisis on an economic and social front through such measures as the Temporary Lay-off Plans to protect jobs and through guarantees for companies through lines of credit.

The President of the Government also underlined the agenda of government reforms, which has been shored up in such initiatives as the draft Climate Change Act, the National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 and the educational reform.

Government maintains roadmap

As regards the convening of the Joint Economic Agreement Committee, an issue raised by the MP, Aitor Esteban, from the Basque Parliamentary Group, the President of the Government claimed that the government had to tackle the pandemic in the early months but maintains the "roadmap" he set out in the investiture debate and his intention to strengthen bilateral relations with the Regional Government of the Basque Country.

The Joint Committee will therefore meet, said Pedro Sánchez, and also stressed the achievements made in these relations. On 4 February, he explained, the first meeting was held between the Government of Spain and the Regional Government of the Basque Country to reactivate the outstanding transfers, on 20 February a timeline was agreed and on 25 June three agreements were signed on health benefits under school insurance, subsidies prior to the ordinary retirement of workers affected by collective lay-off plans and the implementation of State legislation on pharmaceutical products.

The President of the Government also declared that the government is doing everything possible so that the Basque Country, as is the case for the other regions, is not "under pressure" as a result of the fall in public revenue caused by the pandemic.

Non official translation