President of the Government stresses that public pensions are guaranteed

European Council , Brussels (Belgium)

Upon his arrival in Brussels, where he is due to take part in the European Council of Heads of State and Government, Mariano Rajoy recalled that the government has never frozen pensions, has no intention of doing so and "their future is guaranteed".

The President of the Government underlined that employment is the main objective because as the number of people in work rises, "so will pensions". In his opinion, the economic policies that are leading to such positive results must be maintained, together with the rate of job creation "to thus reach 20 million people in work by the end of the next term of office".

As regards the treatment of private pension funds, he remarked that "this is already good" but can be improved in the future.

When asked about possible economic increases for public servants, Mariano Rajoy responded that the government is studying the repayment of the Christmas bonus that was withheld: "In regard to this extra payment that we had to withhold in 2012, which was the worst year, 25% has already been recovered, and now, to the extent that revenue and the budget so allows, we will continue to repay it".

On another note, the President of the Government reiterated his confidence in the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund reaching an agreement with the Greek Government. •The Greek Government has taken some steps in the right direction and has renounced some of the things it said it was not going to renounce, but, between all of us, we still have to make an effort to reach an agreement. I repeat, this is key and the best solution for the people of Greece, for the country and also for the rest of the European Union".

As regards the candidature of the Minister for Economic Affairs and Competition, Luis de Guindos, to head up the Eurogroup, Mariano Rajoy declared that he is one of the best-known individuals with the greatest prestige in the institution. "Luis de Guindos has been a great minister. The Spanish Government can say today that after arriving in power, back in 2012, in a situation where we were on the verge of bankruptcy and of a bailout, Spanish society has made a great effort. We are presently the country to enjoy the highest growth in the European Union and the country creating the most jobs, and hence, we believe that we have sound arguments", he stated.

Economic and Fiscal Union, employment and immigration

Mariano Rajoy announced that the European Council to be held on Thursday afternoon and Friday will tackle the future of Europe in relation to Economic Union, Energy Union, the Digital Single Market and the Financial Services Market.

It will also tackle the need to remove those obstacles that presently exist to labour mobility within Europe, to avoid people who move from one country to another from having problems with unemployment insurance and National Insurance contributions, and to foster the recognition of academic qualifications obtained in their country of origin.

The President of the Government added that we will talk about fiscal union. "We believe that Europe must have an agenda of common debt and a single budget": He also announced that the Member States will tackle political union and the need to increase European controls on institutions to make them more democratic.

As regards immigration, Mariano Rajoy pointed out that Spain will propose the need to increase cooperation with African countries and sign readmission treaties so that "the mafias have it perfectly clear that those people that move country illegally will return to their own country". Furthermore, he argued that we must help those countries so that they can strengthen their institutions and count on good law enforcement agencies to fight these mafias engaged in people trafficking.