The Vice President and Minister of Budgets, Finance and European Affairs of the Government of the Canary Islands, Román Rodríguez, has raised the need for the Temporary Employment Regulation Files (ERTE) to be extended "at least" until next Easter.
This was stated in statements to the media when asked about the meeting held this Monday by the Government of Spain, unions and businessmen to try to reach an agreement to extend the ERTE, which expire next Wednesday.
Román Rodríguez hoped that the meeting would conclude with an agreement because the ERTE are "essential to contain the most damaging elements of the economic crisis", while recalling that the Canary Islands has 11% of the total number of workers affected by ERTE, which is equivalent to about 86,000.
The Canary Islands Vice President considers the continuity of the ERTE to be fundamental not only until December, but until the pandemic crisis forces economic activity to be kept to a minimum.
In this sense, he wanted to make it clear that the defense of the ERTE by the Government of the Canary Islands "is going to be a banner" and insisted on the importance of reaching an agreement because "it would be incomprehensible for such an effective instrument to decay".
In the event that an agreement is not reached, Román Rodríguez stated that the Canary Islands Executive does not contemplate a 'plan b', since it is a state competence. In any case, he stressed that it would be "unacceptable" to have to assume a responsibility that is "clearly" the responsibility of the General State Administration.
Asked about the meeting of European Tourism Ministers, also held this Monday, Rodríguez hoped that the EU countries will be able to establish reciprocal mechanisms to establish corridors that generate confidence. However, he stressed that the task that will contribute most to the recovery of tourism is "to tackle the accumulated incidence and contain the pandemic at origin and destination".
