coordinated, efficient response to the covid challenge? i m very happy to respond, yes. see, surveys suggest that, actually, most europeans don t see it that way. there was a major survey done by the european council on foreign relations. it found what they described as a stuttering eu vaccine roll out had dealt a blow to public confidence in the union s capabilities. and that included a 52% result in spain, saying that they felt the eu project looked broken on covid. i m not aware of those polls, and i don t know when that polling, the exercise the underlying data, was gathered. that doesn t respond at all, doesn t reflect at all what i read in the media, what i sense in citizens and particularly not in spain. i think the european response to this crisis, which has been very challenging on the health front and on the economic
take what you just said with a pinch of salt, because, frankly, structural unemployment, particularly for the young, is a problem that predates covid, covid made worse, and there s no sign that you re really able to tackle it. well, thank you very much for pointing that out, because unemployment and youth unemployment is the number one problem that we ve been trying to tackle. unfortunately, you know, the crisis has obviously halted any progress on that. my point is that right now it doesn t seem like you have real solutions. well, i wouldn t agree at all to what you just said. first of all, this week we had positive news on the labour market in spain in august. we have recovered more or less the employment that had been lost due to covid, and, in particular, youth unemployment figures are lower than what they were pre covid. moreover, we have a recovery plan which includes important structural reforms and investments with a top priority, which is indeed to reduce unemployment, to redu
and that included a 52% result in spain, saying that they felt the eu project looked broken on covid. i m not aware of those polls, and i don t know when that polling, the exercise the underlying data, was gathered. that doesn t respond at all, doesn t reflect at all what i read in the media, what i sense in citizens and particularly not in spain. i think the european response to this crisis, which has been very challenging on the health front and on the economic and financialfront, has been very different to previous crises of a very different nature. this is an unprecedented situation and generally citizens see that we have been able to step up our vaccination rhythm. in spain, we reached 70% of the population this week, which has been an important milestone, i think. and generally on the economic and financialfront, we have taken decisions in a fast and effective manner. well, why did spain have the deepest contraction last year
or stopped due to the pandemic, in order to stop the spread of the pandemic. i think the weight of the tourism and hospitality sector in spain is larger than in other countries and that explains why the contraction was stronger. also, maybe the recovery is being much stronger than in other countries, actually. the outlook is very positive for the second part of the year. well, i know the growth figures look much, much better for the coming year. but if you re in spain and you re unemployed, particularly if you re young and unemployed, you probably take what you just said with a pinch of salt, because, frankly, structural unemployment, particularly for the young, is a problem that predates covid, covid made worse, and there s no sign that you re really able to tackle it. well, thank you very much for pointing that out, because unemployment and youth unemployment is the number one problem that we ve been trying to tackle. unfortunately, you know, the crisis has obviously halted any progr
which is not going to stop, which is due to many different reasons and is taking place throughout the whole world. let me take a different sort of area of difficulty and challenge for the eu, and again, ask about coherence and unity. it s something which, as economics minister in spain, you ve had to deal very closely with. that is the response to the covid i9 pandemic. do you believe that europe s citizens have seen in the european union, a truly sort of urgent, coordinated, efficient response to the covid challenge? i m very happy to respond, yes. see, surveys suggest that, actually, most europeans don t see it that way. there was a major survey done by the european council on foreign relations. it found what they described as a stuttering eu vaccine roll out had dealt a blow to public confidence in the union s capabilities.