Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has spoken out against the European deregulation push being led by Germany and Italy and embraced by the European Commission.
“Some will say that to compete, you must deregulate. Those who say that are often the very same people who left the world into the financial crisis with that same regime,” Sánchez told an event organised on Tuesday by his Socialist political colleagues at the European Parliament.
“This is not about having more or fewer laws or rules. This is about having good rules and good laws,” he said via videocall.
The Spanish prime minister’s intervention was the most awaited and the most loudly applauded by the Socialist MEPs and staff gathered at the Dialogue on a Progressive European Future, a reflection on the Socialists' political priorities that also featured contributions from Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera, President of the European Committee of the Regions Kata Tüttő and US Senator Bernie Sanders.
His remarks put him at odds with the current attempt to boost competitiveness by streamlining and simplifying EU laws.
