Pedro Sánchez stresses that the Government has managed to push through 21 laws in this legislature

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his speech at the Government control session in the Lower House of Parliament (EFE)

During his intervention in the Government control session held in the Lower House of Parliament, Pedro Sánchez defended the management of the Executive during this legislature, in which 21 laws have already been passed.

The president reminded the ERC spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, that he has been working "for more than six and a half years with a progressive coalition government with a parliamentary minority" and that, despite the complexity that this entails, in this legislature "he has brought forward 21 bills that today are already enacted in the Official State Gazette."

The head of the Executive has expressed his utmost respect for all the parliamentary groups that have supported the processing of these initiatives and, in particular, for ERC, and has assured that in the Lower House "all votes are worth the same and this Government is working on those votes."

Pedro Sánchez reiterated that it is necessary to seek "a minimum common denominator" and abandon "maximalist positions." "We have to make an effort in the general interest and to push forward a legislative agenda which, in my opinion, is progressive," he added.

Government priorities

"This Government is going to dedicate itself to what is important," stressed the president of the Government of Spain in his reply to Alberto Núñez Feijóo, a member of the People's Parliamentary Group. Pedro Sánchez has cited among these priorities the response to the DANA crisis, economic growth, job creation, tax reform and social policies.

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, together with the First Vice-President and Minister for Treasury, María Jesús Montero, in the Lower House of Parliament | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

In relation to the DANA, the head of the Executive recalled that the next Council of Ministers will approve a new aid package for the province of Valencia. "In total, we have deployed more than 16 billion euros since 29 October to deal with this terrible DANA."

Furthermore, in his reply, the president welcomed the appointment this week of Teresa Ribera as vice-president of the European Commission.

Accountability and political project

With regard to the usefulness of the control sessions, a question raised by Santiago Abascal, a member of the VOX Parliamentary Group, Pedro Sánchez stressed their double value: on one hand, because of the importance of the Executive being accountable in a democratic regime and, on the other, because they allow the opposition's political project to be known.

Non official translation