Government sets up Monitoring Committee to oversee out-of-court mechanism for 'floor clause' claims

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The Council of Ministers approved a Royal Decree to set up and regulate the Monitoring, Oversight and Evaluation Committee to oversee the out-of-court mechanism for the repayment of floor clauses unduly charged.

This new legislation implements the Royal Decree-Law approved on 20 January that facilitated a channel by which those consumers affected could simply and swiftly recover those amounts unduly charged by credit institutions free of charge. The Minister for Education, Culture and Sport and Government Spokesperson, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, recalled that the text was ratified by the Lower House of Parliament with broad support from the parliamentary groups.

The Royal Decree approved on Friday regulates the composition of the Committee and its functions, as well as the obligations that credit institutions must assume. They are obliged to report on the applications made, on those that have resulted in an agreement and on those that have not, as well as the grounds therefor, on the compensation measures other than cash returns that they have offered consumers, and on the system implemented to guarantee prior notification to consumers.

The Committee will be in charge of gathering and evaluating the information to be transferred to the Bank of Spain and will publish a half-yearly report in which it will assess the degree of compliance with the out-of-court claim mechanism.

Acquisition of vaccinations

Pool Moncloa/J.M. CuadradoThe Council of Ministers authorised the conclusion of the Framework Agreement for the centralised procurement of vaccinations for seasonal flu. Íñigo Méndez de Vigo pointed out that by doing this the government will be able to give the go-ahead for the acquisition of 4 million vaccinations for the 2017-2018 campaign.

12 autonomous regions, Ceuta and Melilla, the National Institute for Healthcare Management, the Ministry of Defence and the General Secretariat for Penitentiary Institutions have all signed up to the agreement. The government calculates that the saving made by acquiring the vaccinations on a centralised basis will amount to 27 million euros, underlined the Government Spokesperson.

Transposition of Directives

The government approved a Royal Decree-Law to transpose six Directives of the European Union in financial, mercantile and healthcare areas, as well as on the relocation of workers.

The aim is to comply with the obligation incumbent upon Member States to transpose EU Directives within a certain deadline. Íñigo Méndez de Vigo argued that Spain had been "scrupulously" implementing this, but "fell significantly behind" because of the situation of a caretaker government in 2016.

The Royal Decree Law affects various aspects of the regulation on the system of payment and settlement of securities, anti-trust law, consumers' right, the posting of workers, tissues and cells for human use and the Civil Procedure Act.

Other agreements

The Council of Ministers approved, for its passage through Parliament, the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Canada. According to Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, this is the political agreement that accompanies the economic and trade agreement approved by the Council of Ministers on 24 March. Its goal is to strengthen political ties and enhance cooperation on foreign policy and security between the EU and Canada.

Furthermore, the government agreed on new rules in the fruit and vegetable sector to adapt to the European Union framework. The Government Spokesperson pointed out that by doing this, Spanish producers will be able to subscribe to the EU subsidies granted in the sector, which in the case of Spain exceed 200 million euros.

United against terrorism

Pool Moncloa/J.M. CuadradoThe Government Spokesperson began his speech at the press briefing following the Council of Ministers, by condemning last Monday's terrorist attack in the British city of Manchester. "The Spanish people closely empathise with the British people at this time, particularly with the families and friends of the victims, whose pain we share", he declared.

The minister underlined that the terrorist threat is global and is aimed at a lifestyle based on democracy and on the exercise of individual liberties, and hence all those countries that share these values should fight this common enemy on a united front. He claimed that it is necessary to continue working on cooperation between the intelligence services and through the International Coalition against DAESH.
Íñigo Méndez de Vigo recalled that since 26 June 2015, when the Ministry of Home Affairs raised the Counter-Terrorism Alert Level to level 4, the Spanish law enforcement agencies have arrested a total of 164 Jihadi terrorists.

Leading role of NATO in combating DAESH

The Government Spokesperson announced that the Member States of NATO decided on Thursday that this organisation should become a member of the International Coalition against DAESH and they reaffirmed the commitment they took on at the Cardiff Summit to increase defence spending until it reaches 2% of GDP by 2025.

According to Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, "the leading role that NATO will play by forming part of the International Coalition against DAESH is positive" and "stands in line with the commitment by Member States to strengthen their defence budgets".

On this point, the minister clarified that Spain's defence spending is not confined to what is set out in the General State Budget for the Ministry of Defence, but is much more extensive. By way of example, he mentioned that the participation of the Guardia Civil in overseas missions is not included in the Defence Budget, but in the Home Affairs Budget.

Integrating growth

At an economic level, the minister stressed that the forecasts for this year show that the Spanish economy will grow more than the US, German and British economies, and highlighted that during the past week it was announced that the turnover of companies is growing at a rate of 11.3%, the highest rate since 2006.
Íñigo Méndez de Vigo maintained that the "integrating growth" of the Spanish economy "is translating into positive and tangible policies for our citizens". In this regard, he mentioned that, according to an analysis published by the medical journal 'The Lancet', the Spanish healthcare system is ranked eighth in the world.

Catalonia

Pool Moncloa/J.M. CuadradoAs regards the proposal that Pedro Sánchez's team will make to the Lower House of Parliament on behalf of the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party] to vote on the plurinational nature of the Spanish State, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo stressed that "the government does not comment on initiatives, desires or intentions". However, he called for the socialists to "clarify their position".

In relation to Catalonia, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo does not envisage the possibility of the PSOE changing its position on rejecting the referendum. "The PSOE is a party that clearly backs the unity of Spain and the defence of territorial integrity". "I have never seen or read any statement to the contrary; quite the opposite", he added.

As regards the request from the President of the Economic Circle, Juan José Bruguera, suggesting on Thursday that the President of the Regional Government of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, should attend the Lower House of Parliament to hold a debate on the referendum, the Government Spokesperson argued that it is good that "sectors that represent Catalan society are now telling Carles Puigdemont what he should do".
The government, he stressed, "since the outset, called for dialogue from Catalan society, and also from the Regional Government of Catalonia", and that has translated into certain surveys reflecting that "the majority of Catalans are starting to question what Mr Puigdemont is doing" who consider that their regional government has ceased to represent all the people of Catalonia and "has turned itself into the government of the pro-independence movement".

The government, added the Government Spokesperson, believes that the President of the Regional Government of Catalonia "must recover the institutional sense of his post" and hopes that "he does not continue to perform actions that lead to a shift or a violation of the co-existence that has always been exemplary in Catalonia".

Current affairs

Íñigo Méndez de Vigo reiterated that the Vice-President of the Government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, and the Minister for the Treasury and Public Function, Cristóbal Montoro, have held talks with the political parties Ciudadanos, Foro Asturias, Unión del Pueblo Canario and Coalición Canaria to approve the General State Budget and are now talking with the party Nueva Canarias. "Talks are taking place and are going well", said the Government Spokesperson, who hopes that the public accounts will be approved because "this would be a good sign of stability and for meeting European targets".

Pool Moncloa/J.M. CuadradoAs regards the election of Pedro Sánchez as the General Secretary of the PSOE, the Government Spokesperson expressed the government's interest in talking and working with the PSOE and of "having a fluid relationship" with its leader in tackling the reforms that Spain needs.

In response to whether the arrival of Pedro Sánchez could condition the result of the motion of no confidence presented by the party Podemos, the Government Spokesperson said that "the government is not concerned" and continues to work "driven and backed by the good economic and social results being witnessed". "What we are going to do is closely examine Mr Iglesias and it is good that things should be that way because we will finally be able to understand what it is that he wants for Spain", he underlined.

On another note, the Government Spokesperson sent out a message of "calm and security" to all those fans that want to attend the football match at the Vicente Calderón stadium in Madrid to watch the final of the King's Cup.

Íñigo Méndez de Vigo specified that more than 2,500 people will take part in the security measures being implemented, of which 1,600 are members of the National Police Corps. He also explained that, after analysing the potential risks, it has been decided to limit the movements of heavy vehicles between 2 pm on Saturday and 1 am on Sunday in the vicinity of the stadium. He also pointed out that entry tickets are personal and the details of fans will be checked to make sure they coincide with the names on the tickets before gaining access to the stadium.