Business Circle archivos - Page 10 of 13 - Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg

Breakfast-debate with José Blanco and Alejandro Ulzurrun: Renewable Energy and Electric Market

25/04/2017

The past April 25th, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg hosted in its Brussels’ headquarters a breakfast-debate with José Blanco López, MEP and member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and Alejandro Ulzurrun de Asanza y Muñoz, Head of Unit at DG Energy, about the “New legislative package of the European Commission on Renewable Energy and the design of Electric Market”. Between the participants, there were members of the Chamber, business executives and representatives of European institutions.

Pablo López Álvarez, Vice President of the Chamber, started by introducing the speakers and thanking their participation and all the attendees’. Before starting with the speeches, he made a brief introduction about the relevance of the current energy sector and its regulation in the European Union agenda.

Afterwards, Joaquín Mollinedo, Chief Institutional Relations, Sustainability and Brand Officer of Acciona, took part and pointed out Spain as a reference in the renewable sector, as well as the interest of Acciona in taking part on this sector from an industrial perspective and along with the EU commitment. Therefore, he wanted to underline his conviction on the new legislative package to promote a cleaner Europe, the energy sector and innovation.

Furthermore, Alejandro Ulzurrun, Head of Unit at DG Energy, made a summary of the Commission’s proposal, which he defined as “the chance to upgrade the European economy”. In his speech, he underlined the year 2015 for the energy sector, in which there was a record on global investments and around 8 million jobs were created.

Between the main elements of the project, Ulzurrun established four priorities: renewable energy, energy efficiency, electric market and governance. This project, defined by Ulzurrun as balanced and ambitious, covers almost all legislation they want to approve in order to achieve the EU goals.

Finally, Ulzurrun reminded the common interest between the Commission and the Parliament, giving as example their joint declaration of legislative priorities they agreed to pursue a significant progress through the year 2017, in which the new energy legislative package is included”.

José Blanco, MEP and member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, started his speech thanking the the European Commission’s cooperation in the energy sector and explaining the two main goals of the Parliament in this field: recovering the leadership of the EU in clean energy and pursuing the goals set in the Paris Summit for 2020, like decarbonisation.

On the other side, Blanco highlighted the importance of legal safety in the EU, which he considers “essential to assure investements, which are so necessary”. In addition, he pointed out that, from the Parliament, they have the responsibility to learn from their own experience and to look for a regulation framework in the energy field that allows the economic modernisation and to build qualified jobs.

Finally, he insisted in the will of the Parliament to listen to different proposals in order to find a balance that enables the approval of the new package draft, in order to be able to present it to the plenary by the end of the year.

Once the speeches were given, our Vice President Pablo López began the debate, which had a high level of participation with different points of view from representatives of the main companies of the energy sector, consultants and members of the European institutions.

The main topics of the debate were about legal safety, the efectiveness of the legislative proposals in the energy field, the sources of financing for renewable energy and the different positions about the binding nature of the proposals and their legal framework.

Event sponsored by:

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Breakfast-debate with Miguel Ceballos Barón, Deputy Head of Cabinet of the commissioner Cecilia Malmström

20/04/2017

Last April 20th the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized a breakfast-debate about “the commercial agenda of the European Union in 2017”. The event took place at the Chamber’s headquarters in Brussels, with Miguel Ceballos Barón, Deputy Head of Cabinet of the commissioner Cecilia Malmström as the main speaker. At the event, there were members of the Chamber, business executives and representatives of European institutions and delegations.

Pablo López Álvarez, Vice President of the Chamber, made a brief introduction of the speaker, thanking him and all the attendees for his presence, as well as the importance of the commercial agenda in the current difficult international context.

Then, Miguel Ceballos began his intervention making a synthesis about the current context and the determining issues in the commercial field, like the beginning of Donald Trump’s legislature and the recent signing of an executive order to review a temporary visa programme used to place foreign workers in high-skilled US jobs. Between others, he underlined the Turkish referendum, the upcoming elections in France and the UK and the Brexit.

Furthermore, Ceballos explained the main commercial challenges at a European level, going through the different continents and the evolution on free trade agreements. He remarked, in first place, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) which, after the stoppage of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States, stands up as one of the most important agreements for our exportations and companies, mostly in the public services sector, such as water or energy. Plus, the CETA assures an access to Canadian tenders avoiding big competitors such as China and Mexico.

On the other hand, the speaker explained the recent developments in different agreements such as in Mexico, in which they pretend to remove sanitary barriers for farming products, as well as improving the investment agreement, underlining the sectors of energy, telecommunications, financial and oil. Regarding Chile, Ceballos highlighted the modernization phase of the current agreement and their will to increase the services,

Regarding the Asian continent, Ceballos underlined the already stablished agreement with Japan, hightlighting the competitive advantage the UE has in this market as a consequence of the TTIP stoppage, avoinding the competence of USA, Australia or New Zealand. Moreover, he wanted to mention Singapur, which he defined as a small economy with a lot of potential for commercial relations in the future. On the other hand, he informed about the agreement with Vietnam, which is currently being translated and will be presented to the Parliament soon.

At last, Miguel Ceballos assured the importance of the agreement with the Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) which gather more than 250 millions of consumers similar to Spanish consumers, which turns out to be specially interesting for commecialization in all sectors.

The launching of this agreement, expected by the end of 2017, would imply a 400 millions of euros savings for Spain, which they are currently investing in custom fees. The new agreement pretends to increase transparency and objectivity of commercial relations.

Miguel Ceballos finished his intervention underlining the importance of the current political and social background, and the evolution of commercial agreements through the years, which include more regulations every day, like social and environmental dumping. As examples, he mentioned anti-corruption in the Mexico agreement and the gender issue with Chile. Finally, he thanked everyone for their presence and the contribution of the Chamber and the Spanish companies in the commercial field.

After the speaker’s interventions, our Vice President Pablo López opened the debate, which was marked by a high participation of the attendees. Between the main issues, the topics were the resistance to the inclusion of financial services in trade agreements, the recently presented White Paper of the European Union and, most importantly, the future of the United Kingdom after Brexit.

Moreover, there was a discussion on the issue of the agreements of the African continent, in which Ceballos highlighted the agreement with South Africa, and the progress on the ones with Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and Ghana. At last, they referred to the commercial agenda of growing countries, mentioning the asymmetric agreement with the Caribbean area.

25/01 Luncheon-debate with Roberto Viola, General Director of DG Connect

26/01/2017

On January 25th, the Official Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Belgium and Luxembourg organized a luncheon-debate with Roberto Viola, Director General of DG Connect, on the “Digital Single Market and Cybersecurity” at the Warwick Hotel in Brussels. At the event, sponsored by Deloitte Spain, there were chamber members, business executives, members of the Spanish and international diplomatic bodies, as well as representatives of European institutions.

First of all, Pablo López Álvarez, Vice-President of the Chamber, made a brief introduction of the speaker thanking him and all the attendees for his presence, as well as the collaboration of Deloitte.

Photographer in Brussels, Belgium. Event Photography for the Spanish Chamber of commerce for Belgium and Luxembourg featuring Roberto Viola by Dani Oshi.

Pablo López Álvarez, Vice-President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg

Roberto Viola began his speech by highlighting the importance of Europe’s role in the digital single market, which has served as a model for professionals in South America, Japan and even Africa.

In its definition of “state”, Viola explained the need to open borders of traditional industry (financial, aerospace, pharmaceutical, etc.) as a key factor for the transformation of the labor market and the interaction of citizens in the future .

On the other hand, he confirmed that “Europe is on the right direction. However, member-states have the duty to teach young people how to continue working on the future of digital society.” He also recalled the responsibility to clearly explain to citizens the advantages of technology.

Roberto Viola, general director of DG Connect

For the single market as well as for cybersecurity, Viola assured that the only way to achieve improvements is to “work together in the same direction, both nationally and internationally.”

In terms of cybersecurity, Viola recognized the value of sharing information between countries and national bodies in order to prevent cyberaccidents, as well as any threat to the stability of our market system. Among them, he highlighted the support of Spain and the European Commission.

Viola answered in detail to all the questions raised around the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP), the EU-US information agreement, compatibility with institutions such as NATO or OECD and legislation on cyber-security of minors.

Finally, Fernando Picatoste, Leader of the Security Practices of Deloitte, closed the ceremony thanking the attendees, Roberto Viola and the Chamber. In addition, he wanted to point out the work of the European Union, concluding that “we are going in the right direction, improving and advancing rapidly” in cybersecurity.

Fernando Picatoste, Leader of the Security Practice at Deloitte Spain

Picatoste underlined the importance of raising awareness among citizens of the need to advance in digital single market and cybersecurity. In order to progress, the collaboration of all countries, the proactivity of member-states and the flow of information for greater protection will be required.

The event ended with a gift to Roberto Viola from the Chamber and Deloitte in recognition to his work as General Director of DG Connect.

From the Chamber we want to thank the collaboration to Paul Van Dinter and Bodegas Tierra, for sponsoring the wine of the event.

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Luncheon-debate with Neven Mimica, the Commissioner of International Cooperation and Development – 8 December

09/12/2016

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg held last 8 December a luncheon-debate with the Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, about “The role of private sector in EU Development Cooperation in light of the 2030 Agenda”.

The event, sponsored by the technological consultancy firm Indra, was attended by members of the Chamber, corporate executives, members of the Spanish and the international diplomatic corps, and European Union representatives. The luncheon-debate began with the welcoming remarks by the President of the Chamber, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, who thanked the Commissioner for his participation, and Iñigo de Palacio, Director of Institutional Relations of Indra, for the collaboration of the company as sponsor company.

De Palacio gave a short summing up of Mimica’s professional background and announced the main development projects which Indra is currently implementing in Africa. Thus, he highlighted the importance of the collaboration of the private with the public sector, providing it its experience in different fields, such us in the energy one, transport or health, in order to make the cities more stable and the citizens more secure. “There should be a greater coordination between the companies and the European Union”, he said.

The Director of Institutional Relations of Indra gave the floor to the Commissioner Mimica, who started his intervention thanking the Chamber for his invitation to the tribune “Business Circle” as a honour guest. The speaker first reminded that in 2015, the European Year for Development, numerous agreements were signed to promote the cooperation. For example, in July of that year the Third International Conference on Financing for Development was held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and ratified afterwards in New York. Then, he pointed out the Agenda 2030 scopes and highlighted the higher investment for development. In this sense, Mimica stressed the EU’s willing to combine the traditional funding sources with new public-private partnerships.

The speaker introduced the new package of proposals announced last week by the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO). Those include the creation of new employments in Africa and helping the most vulnerable sectors of the population in the integration into the workplace. “In this way, we will create new markets and big opportunities will emerge for Europe”, he said. Mimica stressed, however, that for achieving these goals the collaboration with the private sector is essential. The European Commission, in this sense, can offer to the companies the right business environment with the developing countries as well as helping them to invest in order to address the market weaknesses.

The European Commission can encourage dialogue between the private sector and the developing countries through, for example, the business forums in which they take part in. The Commissioner also referred to the European External Investment Plan, announced last September, which promotes the investments in Africa and in the EU neighbour states, in particular to help the economic and social infrastructure as well as the SMEs to address the obstacles for the private investment.

Mimica also explained the steps that a company has to follow to implement a project cofinanced by the EU: firstly, the company has to present the project to the Commission; this reviews it; the EC takes the final decision and, if it approves it, it looks for the financing in the European banks.

The Commissioner expressed as an example the success of the projects implemented in Latin America in the energy, transport, climate change and health sectors. Moreover, he highlighted the one developed in Nicaragua to improve the quality of the water.

Mimica finished his speech emphasizing that «cooperation is not about charity; it’s about the actions carried out and not only the words”. During the question time the attendees could raise him their doubts. Those included questions about the European External Investment Plan or the guarantees which the EC must ensure to the companies for letting them implement the projects in the Agenda 2030 framework.

Mimica answered in detail to all the questions and highlighted the EU’s willingness to review and monitor the sustainable projects carried out by the private sector. “These should look for the human development, seek to eradicate diseases in Africa, for example, and reinforce the healthcare system”, he said.

The Chamber and Indra concluded the event giving a gift to Neven Mimica in recognition to his work as Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development.

We would like to thank the winery Bodegas Corral for sponsoring the wine of the event.

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Luncheon-debate with the Head of Economic and Market Analysis of the European Stability Mechanism (EMS), Juan Rojas

02/12/2016

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg hold on the 24^th November in the Cercle Münster of Luxembourg a luncheon-debate with the Head of Economic and Market Analysis of the European Stability Mechanism (EMS) Juan Rojas, about “Accessing sovereign markets and current trends in ex-programme EFSF/ESM countries”.

The event was attended by representatives from Spanish and international companies, as well as by members of the Chamber, and began with the intervention of the Vice-President of the Chamber, Sergio de Miguel-Jessel. He thanked the assistance to both the speaker and the attendees and made a quick review of the professional background of Rojas.

Juan Rojas began his speech explaining that during the crisis several countries lost access to the market (Portugal, Cyprus, Ireland and Greece). In the case of Spain, he highlighted the tightening of financial conditions in an environment marked by the doubts about the financial system. That created the need to ask for ESM’s financial assistance, which has a specific role for this sector of the economy. Hereafter, the speaker summarised the analysis of the strategies followed by the countries to recover (Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus) or to strengthening (Spain) investors’ confidence, because in his opinion, this is especially relevant to face effectively periods of volatility in the financial market.

The first step towards that strategy consisted on the adoption of the measures included in the programmes (the MoUs). The ultima goal was to have healthy public finances, a sustainable public debt and structural reforms to enhance the potential growth of the economies and improve the efficiency of the economic system.

Rojas commented that these activities led to the recovery and strengthening communication lines with the market participants and have a more regular contact with them, which allowed to identify the market segments where there was a sufficient demand. “This permanent contact gave market access to the treasuries with punctual and irregular operations, and the syndications geared to lengthening the existing profile in the short term and generate reliance on the country’s capacity”.

The Head of Economic and Market Analysis also pointed out some of the measures that were adopted to enhance the role of market creators (financial institutions with the purpose of encouraging market liquidity in the secondary market of public debt): search for potential demand, give liquidity to the secondary market and haven access to a wide range of investors.

Finally, the speaker highlighted that in the countries they lost investment-grade credit rating like Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus, an effort was made to generate a liquidity basis to complete the programmes with the financing necessities covered in the short term (around a year). “The objective was to reduce exposure to the market volatility”, he explained. All this process was accompanied by the BCE decisive action and the extension of the amortization deadlines of the EFSF/ESM loans, with easier financing needs.

Juan Rojas then replied in detail to the questions raised by the Spanish Ambassador in Luxembourg, Mr. Carlos Maria de Lojendio y Pardo Manuel de Villena, and by the President of the Chamber, Juan Rodriguez-Villa Matons.

The event finished with the handing over of a gift to Rojas by courtesy of the Chamber, in recognition of his labor as Head of Economic and Market Analysis of the European Stability Mechanism (EMS).

We would like to thank the collaboration of the winery Salferso Wine, who offered the wine in the event.

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Luncheon-debate with Juhan Lepassaar, Head of Cabinet of the Vice-president of the Commission, Andrus Ansip

16/09/2016

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized last Thursday 15th of September in Brussels a luncheon-debate with Juhan Lepassaar, Head of Cabinet of the Vice-president Andrus Ansip, about the “Digital Single Market”.

The event, which was attended by representatives of different European institutions, lobbyists, members of the Chamber and Spanish and international company heads, began with the intervention of the President of the Chamber, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons. He started his speech thanking the speaker for his attendance and he gave a short summing up of Lepassaar’s professional background. Rodríguez-Villa Matons highlighted his “great trajectory” in spite of his youth. Furthermore, he mentioned the last proposals announced by the Comission on the 14th of September related to the Digital Single Market. This project was undertaken by the Vice-president Andrus Ansip in May 2015 and it has become one of the most ambitious Commission fields.

Juhan Lepassaar during his speech.

After the introduction, Lepassaar started his presentation making a reference to the last reforms of the Commission: the modernisation of the copyright rules, the e-commerce regulation and a better choice and access to content online. The Head of Cabinet also reminded the topics in which his team is working, such as the elimination of the roaming fees or the free and public WiFi in the European Union. “Next week we will launch a new proposal to make sure that every European enjoys the roaming”, he announced.

At question time the attendees could raise some issues with him, such as the regulation of competence in e-commerce, the concerns of various sectors about the new digital divide rules, or the banks and other entities role in this era of increasing digitalisation. He was also asked about the coordination of the radio spectrum policy, another striking field of the Digital Single Market.

The presidential table of the luncheon-debate.

Lepassaar replied in detail to every question raised and highlighted the European Union willingness to boost economic growth through the Digital Single Market, taking into account all actors involved.

The Chamber concluded the act giving a gift to Juhan Lepassaar in recognition to his work as Head of Cabinet of the Vicepresident Andrus Ansip.

We would like to thank the winery Martínez Lacuesta for sponsoring the wine of the event.

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Breakfast-debate on “The reform of intellectual property in the European Union” with María Martín-Prat

30/05/2016

Last Wednesday, 25^th of May of 2016, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized a breakfast-debate with Maria Martin-Prat, Head of Unit – Copyright – DG CNECT, who made a presentation on “The reform of intellectual property in the European Union”.

The presentation began with the intervention of the Chamber’s Vice-president, Pablo López Álvarez, who thanked María Martín-Prat for participating at the breakfast-debate and made a review of her professional career. After that, Ángeles López Lobatón, Telefónica’s Director of Juridical Advising Movistar Plus, sponsoring company of the breakfast-debate, did also an introduction to the presentation, referring to their new acquisition Movistar + and their labor of production and provision of channels to third parties.

María Martín-Prat reviewed the current issues on intellectual property and copyright in the European Union, focusing on the audio-visual content although she also referred to other contents affected by copyright.

The speaker highlighted the matter of the territoriality and the challenge that supposes the existence of different domestic markets inside the European Union when homogenizing the policies relative to the intellectual property. She stressed the fact that the European Union is formed by 28 Member states and that each one has its own legal regimes faced to the wide and general community regulation of the directives. This means that every Member State applies them differently within the framework of the general regulation.

María Martín-Prat wanted also to make a distinction among the terms “regulation” and “directive” when regulating copyright, in reference to the proposal of copyright’s reform that will be presented after the summer. She also stressed the importance of a long-term jurisdiction.

The talk was followed by a round of questions, in which some of the attendees asked their doubts to the Head of Copyright’s Unit concerning the issues of roaming, the rights of competition and intellectual property or the need to act on the canon services.

The Chamber celebrates the success of the breakfast-debate and is grateful for the collaboration of all the participants to the event.

Luncheon debate with Román Escolano, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank

22/04/2016

Last Thursday, the 21st of April, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized a luncheon-debate at “The Hotel” with Román Escolano, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, on “European Funds for Strategic Investments”.

The event counted, among others, on the presence of representatives of various European institutions, lobbyists, members of the Chamber and managers of various Spanish companies.

The event started with a presentation by Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, President of the Chamber of Commerce, who presented the speaker to the audience by going over his professional career until his incorporation at the European Investment Bank.

Hereafter, Román Escolano started his lecture by presenting the European Investment Bank. He explained the current role of the EIB in the economy as one of the oldest financial institutions of Europe. He emphasized its nature as a bank in terms of being an institution sensitive to the current economic issues. The EIB is a non-profit organization but is oriented towards obtaining some benefits and providing real value to the market.

The 28 Member States of the European Union are represented at the EIB. Román Escolano presented the breakdown of the capital account in which he emphasized the participation of Spain as one of the major clients in recent years.

During the second part of the presentation, Román Escolano talked about the European Fund for Strategic Investments. By means of this fund they aim to mobilize the private sector and to change the way in which public money is spent. The speaker emphasized at all times the fact that this instrument should not be considered a fund, but a guarantee to attract the private sector.

After the presentation, a question time took place. The attendees raised various doubts to the Vice-President concerning future projects, start-ups and structural funds, among other things. During the answers he emphasized the primary function of the EIB: supporting the real economy by means of bank lending, the combination of different resources and counseling.

The event ended with handing over a gift to Román Escolano on the part of the Chamber in recognition of his efforts at the European Investment Bank.

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Luncheon-debate with Xavier Prats Monné, Director General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission

06/04/2016

On 5 April the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized a luncheon-debate in Brussels with Xavier Prats Monné, Director General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission.

More than 70 persons attended the event, among them representatives of Spanish and European governmental institutions, managers of international companies and lobbyists of the sector.

The President of the Chamber, Juan Rodríguez-Villa, welcomed the attendees and presented the speaker, Xavier Prats Monné, and highlighted his great professional career and the European Institutions.

Hereafter, Xavier Prats Monné started his presentation regarding the prospects of the DG Health and Food Safety and the global Europe 2020 strategy. In his speech he highlighted the importance of Europe ensuring a greater degree of transparency and promoting the exchange of knowledge between the Commission and society.

During Question Time, reference was made to the European economic crisis. Xavier Prats Monné came to a positive conclusion of the current situation of the food industry and pointed out that “We managed to overcome the crisis and we remain an attractive sector for clients”.

Finally, Juan Rodríguez-Villa thanked Xavier Prats, Director General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission, for his participation by handing over a gift in recognition of his effort for a healthier Europe.

The Chamber would like to thank Pernod Ricard for their collaboration, who were sponsors of the wine of the event.

Luncheon-Debate of ONCE and their Foundation with Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility

12/11/2015

The training management and employment boost models hold by ONCE and its Foundation (on top of their social companies ILUNION) supported by the co-managed investment from the European Social Fund (ESF) have managed to boost over 60.000 job opportunities for people with disabilities in Spain during the past 15 years.

These data were presented today by the President of the ONCE and its Foundation, Miguel Carballeda, to the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, during the luncheon-debate organized by the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg for a hundred businessmen and European Community authorities.

Carballeda explained how the organization works to achieve “a more inclusive, accessible and competitive Europe”. He emphasized the need to keep building “partnerships for disabilities” from which over 80 million citizens within the EU benefit, four of them living in Spain. “We highlight in Brussels the value of disability and of people with disabilities to prevent them from being put at risk” he said.

The President of the ONCE and its Foundation explained how the social organization model works, based on the management of the responsible gaming by ONCE; the boost to the rights, the training, the employment and the accessibility for people with disabilities (among other aspects) and the consolidation of social companies within the Organization that, under the denomination of ILUNION, are an “example that the social and economic profitability can go hand in hand generating a real shared value and commitment with the citizenship.”

Commissioner Thyssen, who visited ILUNION in Madrid a few months ago, explained how the European Social Fund has become a “catalyst” to invest in inclusion and support those social groups that are disadvantaged. She valued the transnational initiatives that took place in Spain and she emphasized the work of ONCE and its Foundation and its capacity to bring together “relevant actors beyond their own boundaries”.

Thyssen shared the ONCE and its Foundation´s point of view, wishing to “end the charitable approach that exists towards disabilities” and assured that the work of the Organization and its social companies ILUNION are “a source of inspiration and an example to follow by the Community policies for people with disabilities”. “Together we will make a more social and fair place of the European Union” she concluded.

Strong partnership with Europe

Alberto Durán, Vice-president of the ONCE Foundation, highlighted the “solid” partnership they have with the European and Spanish authorities, as manager of the operational programs of the European Social Funds, particularly acting as intermediate body of the Spanish Operational Programme “Fight Against Discrimination”, which allows to boost “cooperation networks for employment and training with other public and private agents in Spain and Europe”, strengthening ESF´s work.

Durán noted before Thyssen how the partnership´s model “multiplies” the positive effects of the European funds for people with disabilities. In fact, over 230,000 people in Spain benefited the last 15 years of the different training programs, 60,000 of them obtained a job, “half of them being women with disabilities”.

Furthermore, the management of these funds of ONCE and its Foundation made Disability a relevant topic in the European agenda, within diversity management, inclusion and corporative responsibility, aspects to which he committed the efforts of the Organization “now and in the future”.

“We want to contribute to the fact that Spain will be a reference in this chapter, but above all, we offer our support and experience to all of our European colleagues, to demonstrate that the talent, the spirit of improvement and enthusiasm of the people with disabilities transcend borders and it is an essential contribution for building a smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe, ” he said.

Advertising campaign: “On the right path”

The ONCE and its Foundation took advantage of the event in Brussels to release the traditional advertising campaign of social awareness about people with disabilities in the European capital, which often coincides with Christmas time. On this occasion the topic precisely has the value of the 15 years of partnership with Europe and the jobs which it has allowed to boost, such as “life opportunities to those who will have more difficulties”, in the words of Miguel Carballeda.

In the campaign, the protagonists are people with different kinds of disabilities who have found an employment and show their daily life at work. This way, it can be seen how the laboral integration is but, above all and being the most important thing, how social inclusion is in the working groups, with colleagues, showing that they can contribute more together to the companies and society in general, with the slogan “On the right path”.

The whole day, the delegation of ONCE and its Foundation also celebrated a meeting with Juan de Arístegui, Permanent Representative Ambassador of Spain in the EU, who knew and appreciated all of them, among other meetings of interest with MEPs and representatives from the European Commission.