Dijsselbloem in Spanje om inzicht te krijgen in staat hervormingen en verbeteringen financiële sector (en)
On 28 October Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem i visited Spain, where he met Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy i and Minister of Economy and Competitiveness Luis de Guindos among others.
Eurogroup President Dijsselbloem speaking at the Nueva Economía Forum in Madrid
© The Netherlands Ministry of Finance
President Dijsselbloem wanted to use this visit to gain insight into the improvements in the financial sector and the state of play of the reform agenda. He recognised that Spain is now in much better shape than it was a year ago. The measures taken have not been easy and the work is not yet completed. But all signs indicate that Spain has turned a corner and is now on the road to recovery.
Together with the Spanish Minister of Economy and Competitiveness Luis de Guindos, he took part in the Nueva Economía Forum. In his speech, President Dijsselbloem emphasised that in order to completely recover from the crisis two challenges remain: restoring economic growth and preserving the European social model.
Restoring growth will not be a simple task, but is essential for a successful recovery from the crisis. The European experience demonstrates that redistribution can go hand in hand with growth. But the social systems need to adapt to the new economic reality. Since the focus should now be on promoting structural change at member state level, he proposed further strengthening peer review in the area of structural reforms, both in scope and in political commitment within the European Semester.