Rajoy Stands Firm on Commitment to Fight Economic Crisis
June 22nd, 2012
The President of the Spanish Government, Mariano Rajoy, announced at a press conference this week, following the G-20 summit, that “the Government will not back down in its firm commitment to fight the economic crisis.” He insisted that the Government will continue to carry out the reforms needed by the economy, maintain the commitment to “not spend what we do not have”, and aim to extend Europe through greater banking union and fiscal integration.
Mariano Rajoy talked about economic growth and jobs during the summit, because he considers that this battle must be fought not only in Spain, but also in the European Union and other international forums. He highlighted the determination of countries participating in this forum to address the tensions in the financial markets and showed his satisfaction about the clear and firm support given by the G-20 to the structural reform and spending control policies adopted by the Spanish Government, and in particular the process of bank recapitalisation.
Rajoy also highlighted the support given by the G-20 to the Spanish proposals for making progress towards greater fiscal and financial integration in the eurozone, which include banking supervision, direct bank recapitalisation and deposit guarantees, aimed at moderating sovereign debt financing costs.
He stressed that “the fundamentals of the Spanish economy are in much better shape than the risk premium and the price that is now being paid”, and showed his conviction that this situation would be overcome if the economic policies introduced by the Government were maintained.
With respect to the credit line granted by the EU to recapitalise the Spanish financial system, he insisted on needing to know the findings of the reports by the independent auditors, which will be issued this week. Currently, negotiations are underway on the European Union and ECB Memorandum, and “a decision is pending on what instrument we are going to use”. In Rajoy’s opinion, what is important is that there should be a political will and swift action.
The EU – U.S. Free Trade Agreement
Mariano Rajoy considered the meeting held between European leaders and the U.S. President, Barack Obama, to be very constructive, because Europe and the United States showed unity with respect to the goal of recovering growth and employment, and a joint effort is required to ensure global economic recovery.
Finally, La Moncloa reported that Rajoy said he valued positively, the clear call by the G-20 to avoid all forms of protection in world trade and investment. The European countries and the U.S. have agreed to launch talks to draft a free trade treaty between the European Union and the United States.
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