Mariano Rajoy announces that fiscal reform will be aimed at helping entrepreneurs

Mariano Rajoy started by explaining that what the government has done over the last two years "is to try to overcome the very difficult situation it encountered when it came to power. We are laying the foundations so that the economy can grow and jobs can be created", he pointed out.

In this respect, he said that "some positive results are already starting to be seen, and more will be seen next year, in 2014". For example, the reduction in the risk premium has meant a saving of more than 6 billion euros this year alone in servicing debt, exports are on the rise, inflation is "verging on negative" and those unemployed under the age of 25 has fallen this October compared with last October.

The President of the Government reiterated that in 2015, Personal Income Tax will be lowered, and as regards VAT, he declared that "it will not be touched for 2014", and foreseeably not for 2015 either.

He asserted that in the event that some adjustments were necessary, "this would not be at the level seen in the last two years. It is a question now of growing, increasing revenue and making structural reforms", he underlined.

Along these lines, he announced that in January 2014 an extensive report will be presented on the major breakthroughs made in the reform of the public administration services, which will result in significant savings, the aim of which is "to make life easier for our citizens".

As regards the fiscal reform, the President of the Government said that it will be accompanied by a regional financing model which will fundamentally be aimed at "helping entrepreneurs, small- and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed; in other words, those who create jobs, well-being and wealth.

As regards the banking bailout, he explained that "within 10 years this will be public debt", and that this operation was a good decision since it would have been "far more expensive" not to do so. "A country cannot survive without a financial system" and we have invested "far less" money than countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany, pointed out Mariano Rajoy.

The President of the Government underlined that he has paid great attention to the situation in Catalonia over the last two years. In his opinion, there are very serious problems, like in other autonomous regions, but the most important thing is its "extremely high level of unemployment, and very high accumulated public debt", its difficulties in paying suppliers and the impossibility of gaining financing from the markets.

Hence, the government has earmarked 29 billion euros for Catalonia: 6 billion of which is to pay 900,000 invoices to 35,000 suppliers. The main objective, according to Mariano Rajoy, has been to attend to these priority needs.

As regards the territorial issue, as the President of the Government that I am, "my first obligation is to follow the law and ensure it is followed, and what I am not going to do under any circumstance, and my counterparts in the Regional Government of Catalonia are aware of this, is to breach national sovereignty", he stressed.

"All Spaniards will decide the fate of Spain, and no Spaniard will be excluded from deciding just what they want their country to be", he stressed.

When asked about the regulation on the right to strike, the President of the Government responded that he is "in favour of a law on minimum services that is complied with", and stated that he has commissioned the Ministry of Employment with drawing up a report on the matter.

As regards the 'Bárcenas affair', the President of the Government commented that what is important is "that these matters are avoided in the future", and to that end, he said, the Partido Popular will propose a raft of measures to the rest of the parliamentary groups today, Thursday, that were announced in the Debate on the State of the Nation, and which we plan to submit to Parliament by the end of the year. Its aim is to increase controls and the liability of public officials, as well as demand greater transparency from political parties.

The President of the Government reiterated that he does not like the decision adopted by the Court in Strasbourg on the 'Parot doctrine', but warned that what cannot be done is " to oppose the judiciary" because they are the ones who pursued and jailed these offenders in the first place.

The agreement reached to renew the General Judiciary Council has "dual legitimacy" since its members have dual backing: from the Judiciary and from Parliament", he pointed out.

As regards the draft law on citizen security, he commented that this is only the first step, as until next week, or maybe even tomorrow, Friday, it will not come before the Council of Ministers. Its aim is to penalise breaches administratively rather than criminally, as before.

His meeting with Barack Obama will take place in Washington before April of next year.

The President of the Government declared that he has no intention of implementing a cabinet reshuffle before Christmas "or during the whole legislature, if possible", he maintained.