Calviño And Díaz Endorse Antón Costas To Preside Over CES

The Second Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño , and the Third Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz , highlighted this Thursday the ideal profile of the candidacy of the economist Antón Costas proposed by the Government to preside over the Economic and Social Council ( CES ), and have praised the role of social dialogue to carry out the reforms that Spain needs in a consensual manner.

During the presentation of the candidacy of Antón Costas at the headquarters of the CES, Calviño highlighted, beyond the professional successes of the economist, the “super-suitability” of his candidacy for this collective body, and assured that it will provide “great added value” to CES.

“His candidacy has attracted the unanimity of all and is important because it reflects a shared desire that the CES begin a new stage and play an even more important role in our country,” he said.

For his part, Díaz affirmed that Costas is “wise” for his questions and added that he has been “untying” the great debates of our time for many years. “I know that the CES is a fundamental asset in diagnosing this process of transformation of the Spanish economy and that Costas understands the dimension of this challenge (….). His reflections on the economy and on life prove his wisdom and his professionalism, “he reiterated.

Nadia Calviño has highlighted how important it is to “protect” and make institutions work well. “This change of direction in the leadership of the institution happens at a particularly important moment when the reformist agenda of the Government is to be accelerated with the implementation of the Transformation, Recovery and Resilience Plan,” the minister added.

In fact, he stressed that the ministerial commission of the Plan will meet next week, that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez , will present it in Congress next Wednesday and that also, throughout next week, the Recovery Plan table will be convened with the social agents .

“I believe that this commitment to social dialogue and this investment in terms of time and personal effort corresponds to the importance of this roadmap for the transformation of the country, which foresees an unprecedented volume of investments, but also of legislative reforms in areas as important as the environment, education, transport, the labor market or the tax system, “added Calviño.

In addition, he has taken the opportunity to value the “enormous availability” shown by social dialogue, since “thanks to his responsibility it has been possible to carry out agreements that can serve for the operation of the country and I believe that the social agents and the CES are backbone elements of the country “.

For his part, Díaz, who assured that the CES is the “house of social dialogue” , a “definitive tool for managing the current crisis”, announced that the reform of active employment policies will be “imminent” and will focus in “individualized itineraries”, and the youth guarantee will also be renewed to give a “definitive boost” to training.

“Social dialogue gives us very valuable advice without tutelage and without paternalism, ” defended Díaz, who indicated that the social contract, based on stable and salaried work, has faced deep crises associated with “neoliberalism” and “deregulation” of the labor market, which now needs to change.

The proposed candidate, Antón Costas, thanked the trust placed in him and assured that the CES is the “only collective voice” that the country has, for which he pledged to “listen and interpret it in a dignified way” and always oriented towards the “general interest”.

“I see the CES as a symphony orchestra of 60 extraordinary soloists and it is my turn to be its director, but the essence is those 60 voices,” said Costas, after asking for support from all the organizations that make up the body and committing to ” build and strengthen ” relationships of trust.

In his opinion, the CES, together with social dialogue and collective bargaining, must be able to “convey the voice of civil society” and “create a climate of consensus” that helps the political system and the Government do your homework later.

From the union side, the general secretary of the UGT, Pepe Álvarez, welcomed Costas’ proposal as a “magic formula” that has allowed all the associations to accept it without reservation, has shown the union’s “total support” and asked to act as a “lighthouse” to face the problems that Spanish society has.

On the part of CCOO, the Secretary of Women and Equality, Elena Blasco, assured that the appointment of Antón Costas is a “good option”, especially because of his “indisputable experience”, but above all because of his “conciliated and dialogue-oriented spirit”, and He added that the CES is the “fundamental tool” to achieve “consensual” solutions.

From the employers, the president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), Antonio Garamendi, has indicated that the appointment of Costas was “a great and very good surprise.” “He is a more than adequate person and has the quality of being a transversal person. How good it is that we meet people like you in Spain. You have all our confidence,” said the president of the entrepreneurs.