"I want to see this legislature last for four years and be productive", says Mariano Rajoy

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The President of the Government appeared at a press briefing following the Council of Ministers, which approved a rise in both the minimum wage and pensions, to take stock of 2016 and lay out the challenges for the 12th Legislature.

"It is my intention to see this legislature last for four years and, if we do things right, this can not only be a long, but also a productive, legislature. And I will work as hard as I can to achieve this goal. That is what common sense dictates, it is what is normal in a democracy, and it is what the Spanish people want to see, and this country can show the whole world that it can govern without anyone holding an absolute majority", he said.

During his speech, Mariano Rajoy reiterated that "it falls on the political leaders to reach understandings and forge agreements".

He also defended the reforms already carried out by the government. "I would not like to see the economic reforms approved in this last legislature repealed, not because we approved them or for any prejudicial reason because simply because they have worked". However, he acknowledged that "when you seek an agreement you must give way on certain things while others must give way on certain other things".

Year of uncertainty

Mariano Rajoy defined 2016 as "a year of uncertainty, of unexpected decisions, of unprecedented events and of political turmoil". In this regard, he referred to the election result in the United States and to the results of the referendums held in Colombia, Italy and the United Kingdom.

He also underlined that in Spain, "we have gone through a long and harmful period under a caretaker government and with political stalemate, but it is no less true that we have avoided an even worse outcome and that we have seen pacts and agreements forged recently that have allowed us to rectify a certain part of the damage done and the mistrust that was fuelled by 10 months of political paralysis".

Economic balance

Pool Moncloa / Diego CrespoMariano Rajoy explained that this political uncertainty has not affected the economic recovery thanks to the fact that "the reforms undertaken over recent legislatures have provided for solid and robust growth that we must maintain in the coming years", He also argued that the approval of the General State Budget for 2016, despite the criticism received, "has proven to be a prudent, effective and responsible decision". "This Budget has acted as a safety net that has protected our economic recovery and job creation process by generating confidence against a backdrop of political uncertainty", he added.

On this point, he remarked that this Budget will continue to offer stability in 2017 until such time as a new one can be approved, which must be "as soon as possible". In this regard, he commented that the government is working on the basis that there will be a Budget for the incoming year and that dialogue will be held with the other political groups in January.

On another note, the President of the Government reviewed the positive figures on employment and economic growth. "The last quarter was the best for job creation in the last 11 years. Spain now has 18.5 million people in work, 1.5 million more than at the worst point in the crisis". He also pointed out that, for the first time in seven years, unemployment fell below the 4 million mark, the unemployment rate stands at 18.9% of the active population and youth unemployment has fallen by 14 points.

Mariano Rajoy highlighted that "the Spanish economy will grow by 3.2% this year; this is the highest level of growth of any of the major European economies and almost double the average in the Eurozone". He also stressed that "Spain has become an export powerhouse", with a foreign trade sector which exceeds 33% of the Gross Domestic Product, and that the country can "boast yet another record in terms of tourism" at the close of 2016.

The President of the Government acknowledged that the only figure that did not pan out according to expectations in 2016 was the public deficit, but he stressed that, following the measures adopted at the time, "we are now in a position to meet the new deficit target negotiated with Brussels, of 4.6%". "I would remind you that when we came to power, we found ourselves with a deficit of more than 9%. I believe that the efforts made by Spanish society as a whole have been admirable", he added.

Political balance

Pool Moncloa / Diego CrespoMariano Rajoy declared that "after many months with a caretaker government, of numerous parliamentary upheavals and a second round of general elections, we are now, at last, finding our way forward" to reaching agreements with the political forces, implementing the reforms that Spain needs and preserving our constitutional principles.

The President of the Government recalled that in his investiture speech he offered the other political forces the possibility of reaching major State pacts and three lines of dialogue were established with the political parties, the regional governments and the social stakeholders: political dialogue, social dialogue and regional dialogue. In his opinion, "progress has been in all these areas of action".

Political dialogue

According to the President of the Government, the most important aspect of political dialogue has been the widespread parliamentary support received by the government's proposal in relation to the budget stability and public debt targets and the ceiling on spending. "These agreements offer stability to our public accounts, strengthen Spain's credibility abroad and maintain our path of economic growth and job creation".
Mariano Rajoy also mentioned the agreements in the fields of education, the fight against corruption and in combating gender-based violence. He also announced that in February a sub-committee will be set up tasked with designing a national justice strategy and another committee to study the consequences of the United Kingdom pulling out of the European Union.

Social dialogue

The President of the Government recalled that social dialogue with the trade unions and business associations has led to a rise in the minimum wage and they agreed on the suitability of giving a further boost to youth employment. The Toledo Pact committee was also tasked with designing a plan to guarantee the sustainability of the pension system.

On this matter, Mariano Rajoy also referred to the agreement with the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party] to regulate and finance the Electricity Discount [Bono Social] and prevent those people in vulnerable situations from having their electricity supply cut off, as well as the agreement with Ciudadanos to approve a comprehensive law to support the self-employed. "I also want to point out that, within the framework of social dialogue, an agreement also exists to open up new lines of negotiation on such issues as quality employment, care for the long-term unemployed, a social card and the law on mutual insurance companies", he added.

Regional dialogue

Regional dialogue has focused on negotiating the ceiling on spending and the new path for reducing the deficit agreed with Brussels, explained the President of the Government. In this regard, he recalled that the new public deficit and debt targets were approved last week for the regional governments, both for 2016 and for the period 2017-2019. Liquidity funding for the regional governments was also approved for the sum of 4.5 billion euros.
Mariano Rajoy pointed out that, once these urgent budget issues are resolved, institutional dialogue, which is constant and exists at all levels, will be geared towards holding the Conference of Regional Presidents on 17 January as a priority issue. "The government will spare no time or efforts in making progress towards reaching agreements that can help satisfy demands at a regional level, but neither will we stop defending the values on which our coexistence is based: the unity of Spain, national sovereignty, equality among all Spaniards and respect for the law", he stated.

Catalonia

When asked about the ongoing dialogue with Catalonia, the President of the Government responded by saying that there are many issues, such as pensions, the model of education and violence against women, on which we can talk, but what we are not going to talk about is breaking the law.

On this issue, he reiterated that "the government will not authorise any referendum that means doing away with national sovereignty or the equality of the Spanish people. Aside from that we can talk about anything. I believe that we can take positive steps, but I don't believe taking even more steps in the wrong direction is the most intelligent option".

International balance

Pool Moncloa / Diego CrespoAt an international level, Mariano Rajoy highlighted our country's contribution to common security and the fight against terrorism, both at a European level and a transatlantic level. He also said that "we have ended our period as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with an innovative proposal to tackle new ways to exploit people and the fight against terrorism. He also mentioned the visit made to Spain by the President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Future challenges

In his speech, the President of the Government underlined that "if we are all able to maintain the responsible and constructive attitude we have shown over the last two months, we will be able to guarantee the Spanish people a stable and prosperous future as a result of everyone pulling together".

With this goal in mind, he listed the objectives for the coming months:

• To recover the wealth lost over five years of recession.
• To create half a million jobs and draw closer to the goal of 20 million people in work by 2020.
• To complete the process of cleaning up our public accounts and thus exit the European procedure to control excessive deficits.
• To design a model of regional financing that guarantees both social cohesion in Spain and our key public services, such as healthcare and education.
• To draw up an education model agreed between the political parties and the regional governments.
• To reach a consensus on the measures to be adopted to guarantee the future of our pension system and study a new strategy to wipe out the scourge of gender-based violence.
• To help create a united, supportive and increasingly effective Europe.