Last week, Santander became the meeting point of the Spanish technology industry. The 40th edition of the AMETIC Digital Economy and Telecommunications Meeting brought together representatives from the Government and the business fabric to discuss competitiveness, artificial intelligence, strategic autonomy, and the industrial future of the country. In that scenario, the Secretary of State for Industry, Jordi García Brustenga, attended exclusively for DEMÓCRATA to address some of the main challenges facing the sector.
From the future of Spanish automotive and the competition from countries with lower costs to access to the electrical grid, the continuity of the PERTE or the protection of European production. García Brustenga also addressed the parliamentary blockage of the Industry and Strategic Autonomy Law, a regulation that the Government keeps among its priorities for what remains of the legislature, and anticipated some of the steps that Industry intends to take while its processing continues.
Q- We are at a moment of reorganization of supply chains and a bet on sovereignty, which industries would be interesting to bring back to Spain or to establish here for the first time?
A- Well, it is a very appropriate moment. If we were playing cards, we could say that we have drawn very good ones in some sectors. I would mention the automotive sector because it is very visible, but also pharmaceuticals, perfumery, and chemicals. Or capital goods, renewables, and the defense, space, and chip sectors... It is seen in macroeconomic indicators, we are growing above France, Germany, and Europe, and recurrently for years. There is a will to make ourselves visible as a motor of Europe, so that they no longer tell us that we are the pigs.
P- You mentioned the word opportunity, what do you think are those values that make Spain a safe bet for the future?
R- For example, the energy transition. It is a matter that started with an almost specifically environmental sustainability will, but we have been seeing that it gives us strategic autonomy and competitiveness. The new economy, the new product, and the new process are green. All the work we have done, sometimes with effort and losing short-term opportunities, we are now seeing how it bears fruit.
Or the digital transition. We are here at the 40th meeting of AMETIC, where the sector has been pushing hard for years. Not only do we have good cards, but we are also very adaptable, perhaps because we have been thinking for years about how we can reduce this gap with other powers. From April 5 to 8 we will be at the Hannover Messe demonstrating this prowess, from the humility of knowing that other people do some things better, but with the pride that we also have nothing to envy.
P- Spain is a world power in automobile manufacturing, but the transition to electric vehicles is modifying the entire chain. Is it guaranteed that Spain will continue to be one of the major manufacturers in ten years?
R- Totally. The Government, the private sector, and the autonomous communities saw clearly that the car of the future will be green. And while other countries have slowed down, we have all gone together in this direction. This has led us to the following reality: the five major car manufacturing groups have taken the step to electric or connected vehicles. All five are investing in their factories to manufacture new models, and Spain is becoming a reference within their international groups.
Moreover, five of the most important Chinese manufacturers have entered, who have the most advanced technology, and together with Spanish and European companies are making these transformations. Therefore, we have the five transformed groups, plus five Chinese ones and the recovery of two Spanish brands that were latent, Ebro and Santana.
Now we are 'under construction', in the factories, but in the coming years we will see how we increase production and perhaps even become the top producers in Europe.
The Auto 2030 program has been important and this summer the Autoclus has been released, which is the aid for the purchase of electric vehicles, and it is going very well. It has been a month and it is being important because demand drives supply. If the investor sees that the local market buys electric vehicles, they are encouraged to continue investing in that direction. Therefore, if we do our job well in the next two or three years, it can be a sector that is also a reference for the rest of the industrial sectors.
P- Spain competes with countries like Morocco or India, where labor costs are lower, not only for production but for design, R&D+i... What can be done to prevent those activities from leaving Spain? Are more incentives needed or also some kind of penalty?
The question is how we produce in Europe and in Spain, how we continue to have employment and the capacity to make cars or whatever, vaccines, fertilizers, or steel, without losing competitiveness. We gain competitiveness through open and global economic work, which has gone very well for all countries. Therefore, it is about maintaining relationships with other parts of the world, some more competitive in terms of costs and, sometimes, not only that, but also better in technological quality, while at the same time maintaining this safeguard of the Spanish and European industry.
We are working in Europe on the first European industrial policy law to regulate the industry under the umbrella of the Industrial Acceleration Act. There we are defining a concept that is "Made in Europe," and that is a way to protect what is made here. No one will be able to receive aid or access public procurement if it is not made in Europe.
What does Europe mean? We are seeing how to make it flexible to maintain these global chains and, at the same time, retain as much production as possible in Europe and Spain. It is not easy because we want to remain open, but on the other hand, not be the only fools who do not close a little.
P- Is our network prepared for all the investments that have been announced in recent months, and the projects that are planned for the coming years?
R- It is clear that energy is becoming more and more critical as a factor of competitiveness. Good work has been done in the generation of renewable energies, and the crisis in Iran has shown us that we are more prepared, but that does not mean that access is guaranteed and that it is a price that is competitive. The latest royal decrees go in this direction, like Iran, and what is coming now, investment ceilings, planning of the transport network, too.
If we take too long to provide electrical access, the investment will go to another country
And on the other hand, we as an industry have a separate chapter which is the electro-intensive sector, the large basic industries of steel, aluminum, ceramics, cement, chemicals... They are the large consumers and cost more to decarbonize. A lot of investment has already been made with the decarbonization PERTE, but this change needs to be completed, it is our pending chapter.
P- ¿And does it confirm if there are industrial investments that are currently waiting due to lack of electrical capacity?
R- Yes, we are aware. In all of Spain, there is not a single autonomous community that does not have some new or improvement project that requires an increase in capacity. But this is not something that can be achieved overnight. It needs to be planned and we need to be more agile when it comes to providing access from another ministry.
This also coincides with a small speculative bubble of some who, whenever there is a sector change, come in to see if they can make a profit. We need to discern between the real, industrial project, for example, a data center, and one that is buying to be able to sell access at a higher price.
On one hand, there is that work and, on the other, the agility so that investment is not lost, because if we take a little too long it will go to another country. Therefore, that is what we are working on and, although it is not our ministry, we are very present in the decisions regarding access and price.
P- Last week, the deadline for the execution of the European Next Generation funds concluded, what assessment does the Government make of the industrial PERTEs and how will the investment momentum be maintained now?
R- As I was saying, we are 'under construction'. If you go through the Spanish industries, you will see that they are investing, finishing projects, and starting those that go through the State Society for Industrial Promotion and Business Development (SEPIDES). And when you are under construction, well, there are more inconveniences than benefits, but in a few years we will see the fruits of that. We will see how industrial productive capacity has increased, the products, and also the industrial GDP. Right now, we can say what has been done, but not the result.
At the same time, with the PERTEs there has been a learning process. At first, it was a very collective model, difficult to manage and justify. Now it is more individual and bureaucracy has also been reduced to make it agile. We have a perfected instrument.
On the other hand, the PERTE for Electric and Connected Vehicles (VEC), with 3 billion, and the PERTE for Industrial Decarbonization, with more than 1 billion, have perhaps been the two most successful and visible. We want that, with national budget and hopefully also with more European budget, we can continue in those sectors that need this transformation.
P- Another of the pillars that is marking this AMETIC Congress is the process of digitalization of the industrial fabric, do you think there is a risk of creating a very advanced technological industry while a significant part of SMEs is left behind?
R- I am not so worried about the adoption of AI, but about how you change the business model. This needs support and we agree with the private sector, with CEOE and Cepyme. We are at 17.5% of industrial companies that use AI, while globally 21% of SMEs use it. Therefore, there is a gap in support.
We intend to continue with instruments such as Innovative Business Groups (AEI), the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH), and the National Innovation Company (Enisa), to support this real transformation of the business model with AI.
We know that it is a very difficult Congress and that not everything is in my hands or in the minister's
P - What is the status of the Industry and Strategic Autonomy Law?
It is in the process of approval by Congress. The regulation encompasses two major milestones: the investment that accompanies private funds, partly thanks to European funds that, although not finished, have allowed for significant progress, and on the other hand, the institutionalization of this industrial policy. The current law is from 1992, it needs to be updated, to set the new playing field, with instruments like the PERTE. There are many things we are already doing, but without having them institutionalized. We intend for the legislature to end with the approval of the law.
We know that it is a very difficult Congress and that not everything is in my hands or in the minister's, it is true, but let it not be because of us that we do not achieve it. I do not understand how something that is for the country and on which there is agreement is not approved. We are open to negotiating in all directions to make it comfortable for the majority.
P- And what is currently holding it back?
I believe that more than the text, which we are open to discussing, it is the political context that exists. We are looking for a window of opportunity that makes common sense prevail in the decision and in the vote for the approval of such a transversal and infrastructural law.
P- The Lobby Law was also blocked and has been approved via royal decree-law, are you considering this possibility as a last resort before the legislature ends?
It could be, but a royal decree law, in the end, also has to be validated. I believe that this is important enough and has the weight of basic state regulation, to change it from a law to a royal decree law. It has to be a law. That is our feeling, we must be brave and approve it in the form of a law.
P- And aside from this law, are you working on any regulation perhaps more sectorial that could see the light?
R - Well, we are working on the improvement of the Electrointensive Statute. The call has already been issued and next year it will be improved, expanding the sectors it affects. And regarding the compensation of CO2 for indirect costs, there have also been regulatory changes. We are regulating the creation of small bodies that are provided for in the law, such as the improvement of the high-level industry forum or the interministerial group on industrial policy, necessary to work on issues like energy, talent, digitalization...
In regulation, it is possible to advance more quickly with royal decrees or ministerial bodies. But the law would be the pillar that would institutionalize and make everything more formal.
The industrial transformation and the enhancement of industrial policy are in process and must be completed
P - Is there any urgent aspect that is being affected by the paralysis of this law?
Well, in fact, we are doing a large part of the law without the law. An Strategic Investments Committee has been created, which is led by the Office of Economic Affairs and will come out now in autumn, and which was planned in the project approved by the Council of Ministers.
There are things that we are advancing, such as the State Registry of Interested Entities in Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (RECAPI) and the Working Group on Strategic Autonomy. We are also working with the Spanish Association for Standardization (UNE) in a working group to create a standard that standardizes the contribution of critical companies to strategic autonomy. If the law were approved, it would start from many things already begun, and this is also an advantage.
P- To finish, we are starting the political course. How do you face it? What priorities or what is the agenda of the Secretariat?
R- The main thing is that this is not over. The industrial transformation and the enhancement of industrial policy are in process and must be completed. There is a project for four or five more years within the six-year strategy we are designing. This is a path, and on the other hand, there is the focus on it.
The Strategic Investments Committee will come out now in autumn
This course we will surely have noise, both at the national and European and global levels. But what we want is focus, with those who want to follow us. We know of autonomous communities and municipalities that want to advance in their investment projects or in their sectoral competitiveness. Also from groups of companies, employers' associations, and unions... We cannot control the noise, but we can control where we put the focus.
In detail
We met with the Secretary of State for Industry, Jordi García Brustenga, at the "little house" of Red.es. It is not Bad Bunny's, but for days it has been the center of attention at the Palace of Magdalena. High-ranking government officials and very prominent figures from the private sector have passed through the official press quarters over three days.
After the interview, Brustenga was awaited by a crowd of media who were waiting under the sun of Santander. The unstable climate of the Cantabrian Sea gave a break and the 40th Congress of AMETIC took place without rain. An unusual milestone in the four decades that have marked the beginning of the new school year.