"The pandemic has taught us a lesson about our own fragility and about how much our well-being depends on the health of our planet", was the reflection of the Vice President of the European Commission,
Frans Timmermans
, at the Green and Digital Europe meeting, held this Thursday on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of ElMundo.es. Also present in the debate were the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce,
Reyes Maroto;
the vice president of the CEOE,
Iñigo Fernández de Mesa;
the president of the Cercle D'Economia
Javier Faus
, and
José Vicente de los Mozos,
president of the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (ANFAC).
Timmermans offered an optimistic but tinted speech of urgency to accelerate the process of digitization and ecological transition, imperatives in his opinion to reverse the effects of climate change, through a transition made in "unison", where there is no room for "no one to go for free".
In addition, it ratified the commitment of the European Union to use the
Green Pact
as a roadmap to emerge from the crisis caused by Covid-19.
"In the last 50 years, Europe has grown more than 60% and we have reduced CO2 emissions by 20%, so we have proven that it is possible to prosper economically and reduce emissions. Let us now show that this process can be accelerated," he emphasized .
The European vice president showed enthusiasm when pointing out the 800,000 million euros of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of Next Generation EU, which the EU has made available to overcome the crisis and of which 72,000 million correspond to Spain. "The funds to combat climate change have never been as available as now," he said. In addition, the European leader has specified the duty to use these funds in a correct and socially equitable way as a response to a moral duty towards the young generations, whom he has praised for their solidarity work during the pandemic. "Our responsibility is enormous, and if we fail our children will see wars for water and food: the world is watching us," he said.
Timmermans assured that the Commission will study in detail the
National Reform and Investment Plan
that the Government sent to Brussels last Friday. "We will carefully analyze Spain's recovery plan. I will say for now that the green reforms respond to the promises of shaping a modern and prosperous economy," he said.
Spain plans to invest
13,203 million in sustainable mobility
, as well as the digitization of public administration and the promotion of teleworking of its officials, among other measures. Timmermans specified the European priority of focusing on the implementation of renewable energies, as well as the commitment to electric mobility that has the appropriate infrastructure. "We have to accelerate the change to a circular economy that ends the pattern of take, make, use and throw away," he ruled, and assured that an ambitious legislative package would soon be announced from Brussels to reach "the climate goal" by 2030.
For her part, Minister Reyes Maroto pointed out as one of the fundamental keys to economic recovery the acceleration of the vaccination process, whose "evolution allows us to be optimistic."
The minister has assured that the Government's plan "includes three ingredients: security, certainty and trust", and its priority goes through the protection of employed and self-employed employment through the extension of the ERTE and aid for the self-employed, in addition of an agile and effective deployment of the Recovery Plan.
In addition, the minister has advanced that this month a pact will be approved by the industry that will go to Congress, and has taken the opportunity to make clear the need for a new Industry Law, since the current one dates from 1992.
The meeting was moderated by
Martí Saballs,
deputy editor of this newspaper, and opened by the editor, Francisco Rosell.
Also present at the event were
Nicola Speroni,
general director of Unidad Editorial,
Stefania Bedogni,
corporate general director and
Aurelio Fernández,
general director of publications.
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