Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero began his contribution by acknowledging the "stagnation and slowing" of the international economic situation and its effect on Spain, and highlighted that since the first day of its term of office the Government has been working to alleviate these effects in any way it can.
"This is a difficult economic situation", he said, but we are also "strong", and the proof of this lies in the fact that we are coping better than other countries in the European Union.
In this sense, he specified that, according to information to date, during the second trimester of 2008 the economy in the euro-zone has shrunk (-0.2%), as has the economy in the whole European Union (-0.1%), while it has actually grown in Spain (0.1%).
The President explained that today's extraordinary Cabinet Meeting has pinpointed commitments that have already been declared, adopted new initiatives and taken into consideration other future measures that are aimed at continuing the "permanent economic reform agenda" and both driving recovery and maintaining social policies.
Adopted measures
The head of the Government announced that the Bill for abolishing wealth tax, to come into effect from 1 January 2008, has been referred to Parliament. This represents a fiscal improvement of 1,800 million euros for approximately one million taxpayers.
It has also agreed to modify the system for VAT returns, which will be monthly as from January 2009. This means that 1.2 million businesses will pay around 6,000 million euros in advance during 2009. The main beneficiaries will be new businesses and those that make investments, stated the President.
Both measures imply a cash injection of 7,800 million euros into the economy, added Rodriguez Zapatero.
Other commitments undertaken in June between the Government and the road transport sector to alleviate the effects of a rise in oil prices in this sector are included in this Bill.
The Bill also decides the standards of road tax applicable to motorbikes in terms of CO2 emissions.
Small and medium sized enterprises and housing
Protected housing and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) will gain 20,000 million euros of additional finance in 2009 and 2010.
The President announced that during 2009 and 2010 endorsements to facilitate finance for SMEs will be maintained, and also the Official Credit Institute (ICO) will renew finance intercession with a maximum of two thousand million euros in 2009 and a similar figure in 2010.
In order to facilitate family housing and to drive the sector forward, in 2009 and 2010 the ICO will renew its endorsements for five thousand million euros per financial year.
Legal reforms that favour tenants by reducing processes in cases of eviction or non-payment of rent, increasing penalties for cancelling leases and facilitating agreements in communities of owners in order to undertake building work and repairs will be introduced in order to strengthen the rented housing market.
In order to support investment in housing and public works, the Ministry for the Environment, Countryside and Sea has presented a report to help substantially reduce, in no more than 6 months, the time of assessing the environmental impact of work. At present, as the President said, the average time is 760 days and there are more than 3,000 works being evaluated.
Also, a series of proposals related to the drive towards the renovation and restoration of buildings and housing, their energy efficiency, and the plan to renovate the hotel infrastructure, which will affect various ministries, will be presented before 31 December this year.
Stimulating the economy
Stimulating the transport of goods by railway, the total reform of a new model of airport management, the drive towards the application of strategic lines, the fight against global warming, making the telecommunications sector more dynamic, a reduction in administrative procedures, a reduction of registration and notary tariffs and an increase in competition in the service sector are also some of the 24 measures approved by the Government to provide an incentive for economic activity.
Agreement on social dialogue
During the meeting, the Government addressed the agreement reached with social agents towards the end of July and decided to deliver them on 3 September as a "roadmap" for the improvement of professional training.
The President stated that the other main priority of the "roadmap" that comes from the social dialogue is "to improve and strengthen active employment policies" and to be more efficient when finding new placements for unemployed workers, particularly those in construction who are most affected.
At this point the president reminded us that the Government has kept its social obligations for 2008 and will do so again in 2009. As an example of the many instances of this, he cited the 400,000 families that have received help for the birth or adoption of a child, the 325,000 paternity leaves granted, the 325,000 situations of dependence that have been formally recognised, and the 70,000 payments of rent allowing young people to live independently.
Independent financing
In answer to journalists' questions, the President was confident of reaching an agreement on financing with all the Autonomous Regions because the proposal from the Vice-president for the economy, Pedro Solbes, implies it will improve.
Also, as the Government states, it is positive that everybody is now aware of the need to modify the financing model that was approved in 2001, he added.
Regarding the Statute of Catalonia, he stressed that the Government is carrying this out rigorously, as it does with any Statute, and he further explained that the basic law that approved this fixed a term of two years for reaching an agreement - although this has not yet been reached, it is not on account of the Government since it has already presented a finance proposal.
Nevertheless, he showed his willingness to continue talking and working together to reach an agreement.