"This is your house", was Antonio Garamendi's greeting to Pedro Sánchez during yesterday's visit of the Acting President of the Spanish Government to the headquarters of the CEOE, which is interpreted as a gesture of rapprochement with employers after months of cold relations and noisy confrontations. A visit to present to Spanish businessmen the strategic autonomy plan that Spain will introduce for debate at the informal European Council in Granada on October 6, which seeks to strengthen the autonomy, economic security and global leadership of the European Union .
Sánchez sent a message both in Europe and Spain, when he referred to foreign companies in general and to the very specific operation of Saudi Telecom in Telefónica. The message that foreign investors are welcome, but with strict conditions that ensure that legitimate Spanish interests are preserved. In general terms, it is mentioned in the proposal that he presented yesterday. "Gradually limiting the dominance of foreign companies with ties to unrelated countries in strategic sectors and critical infrastructures" is one of the conclusions of the Resilient EU 2030 document.
Turning to the most immediate and closest, that is, Telefónica, Sánchez affirmed that the Spanish Government will ensure that this operation does not involve any undue influence. "I guarantee you that the Spanish Government is carefully analyzing the operation of the investment, that we have the appropriate mechanisms to exercise the necessary controls and that we will guarantee at all times that defense and national security, understood in a broad sense", affirmed Sánchez. He also added that "the limit that exists for foreign investment is the protection of our legitimate national interests".
Sánchez's tone is similar to that maintained until now by his first vice-president and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño. That no door is closed to Saudi investment in Telefónica, but that it will be subject to strict conditions in order to ensure that strategic interests are respected. Along these same lines, Sánchez insisted in general terms that "foreign companies must not be expelled, on the contrary, what we must do is attract them".
He also added that Spanish legislation on investment control is one of the most rigorous in Europe. A reference to the regulations strengthened during the pandemic and which received a final boost before the elections.
The Saudi group secretly planned its entry into Telefónica's shareholding and made it a reality at the beginning of September. A purchase operation of 4.9% in shares and a further 5% through derivatives that would be executed as long as it obtains the authorizations of the Spanish Government. If the operation is carried out, Saudi Telecom would become the first shareholder of Telefónica, and what is also at stake is its potential entry into the company's board of directors.
The presence of Sánchez at the headquarters of the CEOE to present his European plan for strategic autonomy can be interpreted as a rapprochement, after the bad relations that both parties have had lately. From now on it will be seen if it remains as a gesture in the air or if there is more understanding between Sánchez and the employers. Until now, the CEOE had made efforts to distance itself from the Spanish Government, as was evident in its insistence on avoiding any government presence when the Agreement for Employment and Negotiation Col· was signed in May teaching (AENC).
In any case, what the businessmen asked of Sánchez yesterday was to limit the excess of regulation that they consider to be undermining companies by imposing new burdens. A claim formulated by the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, and that of the European employers' association, Business Europe, Fredrik Persson, who intervened via telematics.
For his part, Sánchez gave them a preview of the proposal he will make to the EU to develop strategic autonomy, one of Europe's weaknesses that has become evident with the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the growing rivalry between powers economic In this sense, his proposal identifies the risks that justify limiting the control by foreign companies of strategic sectors. The main thing is security, because of the possibility that they have access to sensitive information and, in the last extreme, even the possibility of interrupting communications, a particularly high risk in the case of digital services, "which can be blocked in question of seconds".
