Sánchez: "Spain's new major economic modernisation will be based on European funds"

Madrid

Spain was one of the first countries to submit its recovery plan to the European Commission; the first, along with Portugal, to get it approved and the first to submit an application and receive a disbursement. To date, Spain has received a total of 19 billion euros. "The Next Generation Fund has been the biggest breakthrough in this century when it comes to European integration," said Sánchez.

The Chief Executive highlighted that the 140,000 million euros from European funds that Spain will receive until 2026 to invest in the modernisation of the productive fabric represent an amount similar to the cohesion funds received over 34 years. "That success will now come back in an accelerated manner," he stressed. Sánchez stated that our country will receive 70 billion euros in transfers up until 2026, to which the Executive will add approximately another 70 billion euros in loans to be requested before June 2023.

The President of the Government added that the implementation of the European funds is already a reality. 91% of the more than 24 billion euros budgeted in the 2021 Recovery Plan have already been authorised. In the first half of this year, more than 150 calls for proposals are expected to be launched, which will make available to the productive fabric an amount of more than 17 billion euros.

A labour reform resulting from agreement with the social partners

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

Pedro Sánchez also praised the labour reform agreed with the social partners, to whom he acknowledged their "sense of State" for the stability granted. "I am sure that the political actors will show the same sense of state that the social partners have shown in agreeing this important labour reform," he stressed.

The Chief Executive highlighted the agreement, as it tackles imbalances such as temporary employment and precariousness, encourages indefinite contracts, promotes internal flexibility mechanisms in the face of dismissal, regulates subcontracting and places collective bargaining at the heart of the new labour relations model, as is the case in the main European countries.

Sánchez also argued that state policies, such as pensions and employment, require stability and continuity, and this can only be achieved through "national agreements."

"Social dialogue is not only a means but an end in itself. Because to dialogue, negotiate and agree is to make good politics: that which represents the majority, more than just ideologies; that which achieves much more inclusive policies and that which lasts over time," he pointed out.

Unprecedented employment developments

The Prime Minister also reviewed the very positive evolution of employment as a sign of Spain's economic recovery. In the last ten months, two million people have joined the labour market, meaning that never before have so many people, especially women, been signed up to the social security system. In addition, Sánchez stressed that since last February there has been the longest period of reduction in unemployment since data has been available, with 900,000 fewer people on the unemployment rolls.

Importance of vaccination

The Chief Executive highlighted the improvement brought around by vaccination, which represents "a collective success" and the "best decision" in terms of economic and health policy. "We must begin to design that bridge that will allow us, when scientifically possible, to move from pandemic management to endemic disease management. It will not happen overnight, it will not happen immediately, but it will come. And what we, the governments, have to do is to anticipate that work and design that future," he added.

"Our project for Spain is for Spain to grow. May our economy grow, may our employment grow," he stressed in his speech to executives and representatives of companies and multinationals, pointing out that "never before has it been so worthwhile to invest in Spain."

Non official translation