Moncloa Palace, Madrid
The government updated the Constitutional Law on the Protection of the Health of Athletes and the fight against doping to adapt it to the World Anti-Doping Code.
The Government Spokesperson, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, explained that the World Anti-Doping Agency approved this code in 2015, but this could not be incorporated into Spanish legislation because of the situation of a caretaker government in Spain for most of the year that followed. This time lag has affected doping control laboratories in Spain, and hence there is an "urgent need to rectify this situation", he pointed out.
The Royal Decree-Law approved on Friday introduces new offences and extends the prescription period, imposes stricter sanctions and strengthens the autonomy and independence of the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency.
Íñigo Méndez de Vigo stressed that the World Anti-Doping Agency has expressed its agreement with the content of the new legislation and that the regional governments with competence on this matter have been informed through the Inter-territorial Sports Conference. He also pointed out that the National Sports Council has forwarded this to the parliamentary groups and it is hoped that "a sufficient majority will be attained to approve this".
The text also incorporates tax incentives to be applied to the programme to prepare Spanish athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. "This is very important in order to obtain aid from private companies that contribute to financing the preparation of our Olympic athletes, who garnered such good results at the Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro" asserted the Government Spokesperson.
Greenhouse gases
Pool Moncloa/JM CuadradoThe Council of Ministers regulated the supply and handling of fluorinated gases and the tanks in which they are contained, as well as the control requirements for industrial plants that emit these gases. The aim is to avoid greenhouse gas emissions into the environment.
The text incorporates certain aspects into the legislation such as the confirmation of professional experience when applying for a certificate to handle fluorinated gases and the necessary theoretical and practical experience. It also provides that air conditioning units, pre-charged cooling units and heat pumps with fluorinated gases may only be sold to users when it can be guaranteed that the installation will be carried out by an authorised company.
Military Prison Regulation
The government approved the new Military Prison Regulation, which replaces the previous regulation dating back to 1992. Íñigo Méndez de Vigo recalled that there have been major changes to the armed forces since then, such as the incorporation of women and the suspension of obligatory military service.
The new regulation introduces ways to serve out new sentences, the adaptation of prison benefits to the current Criminal Code and various measures aimed at the social reinsertion of prisoners or their reincorporation into the armed forces.
Real estate loans
Íñigo Méndez de Vigo referred to two reports that were presented to the Council of Ministers on Friday.
Firstly, the report presented by the Minister for Employment and Social Security, Fátima Báñez, on the group of experts that has studied the repercussions of the ruling handed down by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the hiring of temporary staff.
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Secondly, the report presented by the Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry and Competition, Luis de Guindos, on the Draft Bill regulating Real Estate Credit Agreements. The aim of this legislation is to strengthen consumer protection and enhance the transparency of real estate loans.
Among the measures planned is the obligation to hand over to the consumer a standard record with the characteristics of the contract and inform him or her of certain clauses and of the expenses associated with signing the contract. The future legislation will also limit commissions on early repayment and strengthen the control of the legality certified by the notary public or registrar on the content of the contract.
Budget Approval
At the press briefing following the Council of Ministers, the Government Spokesperson pointed out that Spain "heads up Europe in terms of economic growth and job creation" and that "everything points to us continuing along these lines if we undertake the appropriate reforms in terms of time and in depth".
Pool Moncloa/JM CuadradoIn this regard, the Government Spokesperson stressed that the approval of the General State Budget is something that "would be good for the government, for the regions and for our citizens". "An outright 'no' would not be a good response, nor the response that Spain and other countries expect, because without a Budget it would be hard to maintain the quality and level of our public services", he added.
Íñigo Méndez de Vigo recalled that the Official State Gazette (Spanish acronym: BOE) published, on 14 February, an order for ministerial departments to submit their individual budgets to the Ministry of the Treasury prior to 3 March. He also pointed out that the Minister for the Treasury and Public Function, Cristóbal Montoro, "has made contact with the different parliamentary groups to see their proposals and start negotiations" and that the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, has confirmed that the Budget will be presented "during the course of the month of March".
Offer of ongoing dialogue with Regional Government of Catalonia
Íñigo Méndez de Vigo reiterated, on behalf of the government, "its standing offer of dialogue" to the Regional Government of Catalonia based on "the conviction that dialogue is the way forward to resolve problems and channel solutions".
The Government Spokesperson underlined that the government is prepared to speak about anything "within the law" because it believes that "this would be beneficial for the citizens of Catalonia". "The government is worried at seeing how politics in Catalonia seems to be subject to the extremism of the CUP [Popular Unity Candidature], to what it wants, to what it seeks, because they themselves say that what they want is to subvert the economic and social model of Catalonia. And we do not believe that that would be beneficial at all to the people of Catalonia", he said.
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On this point, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo asked "for the institutions to return to the service of all the people of Catalonia and not be held hostage by pro-independence interests, to re-establish co-existence and the cohesion of society, which is none other than the acknowledgement and respect for their plurality, and to re-establish the trust lost within the democratic framework, which is what is legal".
On another note, the Government Spokesperson recalled that the Constitutional Court unanimously agreed on 14 February to overturn the two resolutions adopted by the Regional Parliament of Catalonia, that provided for the call for a public consultation on the independence of Catalonia and warned public officials who voted that they would be subject to the corresponding civil and criminal liability in the event of not complying with the ruling.
Current affairs
When asked about the government's evaluation of the ruling in the 'Nóos' affair, announced on Friday, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo stressed that the government does not comment on legal rulings, but rather respects them and upholds them, and "maintains, as it has always maintained", that Spain functions under the rule of law in which everyone is subject to the law and no-one is above or beyond the law.
As regards the insults aimed at President of the Government Rajoy by the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo confirmed that the Venezuelan Ambassador in Madrid was summoned to a consultation on Friday morning to express the government's displeasure at the "offensive, intolerable and unfair" language used. He also urged internal measures to "truly" be taken in that country and for dialogue with the opposition to be established because "we are moved by the interests and liberties of the Venezuelan people", said the minister.
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