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The President of the Government stressed that the importance of the fact that the negotiations and the main progress achieved at the European Council were focused on three issues, "which were essential to Spain and to the people of Spain: youth unemployment, credit for SMEs and banking union".
He added that Europe is an institution made "by and for the people and a project that should address the real and tangible interests of society. And what the people most need right now are urgent and effective measures to stimulate the creation of jobs and financing for companies".
As regards the promotion of financing, Mariano Rajoy explained the measures brought to the table following a proposal from Spain to obtain greater involvement by the European Investment Bank, together with developing alternative sources of financing. As regards the efforts to counter youth unemployment, he recalled that Spain will receive €2 billion over the next two years and that any funds from the Multiannual Financial Framework not used between 2014 and 2017 will also be allocated to this area.
To this can be added other decisions, including the creation of the Erasmus+ plan to foster cross-border professional training, the EURES programme for employment mobility, a partnership for the quality training of apprentices and a significant agreement with the European Parliament to promote the mutual recognition of professional qualifications throughout the European Union.
On the issue of banking union, the President of the Government stated that the single supervisory mechanism will be ready in the autumn of 2014 to guarantee stability in the financial sector, added to which that the Directive on the bail-out of financial entities and the guarantee of deposits will be ready by the end of the year.
The President of the Government believes that, with everyone's backing, the objective set by Spain is being achieved and the EU is making progress on an agenda that includes "specific measures to tackle real problems". Hence, whereas the only topics spoken about a year and a half ago were adjustments and fiscal consolidation, "we are now talking about unemployment, putting an end to banking fragmentation and seeking new channels for financing our SMEs".
However, he said that is still not enough. "Much more can and should be done faster, because the pace of change in Europe is sometimes too slow", he said. He explained that "sometimes too much time elapses" from the establishment of a political priority and the agreement on a legislative text until the measure start to be felt by the people.
For that reason, he defended "a continuation of our own efforts" whatever the pace of decision may be in Europe. In his opinion, the task of correcting imbalances being carried out in Spain "would be easier and more productive if EU decisions were applied more quickly" but that, in any case, the Government of Spain will move ahead with its efforts "so as to be better prepared for when the cloud of economic recession finally dissipates throughout the European Union".