The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, warned this Tuesday about the dangers of betting on deregulation as a recipe to strengthen competitiveness in Europe, and defended that the European Union must preserve its regulatory framework and its democratic values in the face of current technological and geopolitical challenges.
"We cannot allow the lives of our people to depend on the delusions of a technocast or a technological oligarchy," he stressed in a videoconference intervention at an event of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament, held in Brussels, where he called for a common response based on regulation, social protection, and the reduction of inequalities.
Sánchez connected this debate with the advancement of artificial intelligence, which he described as the "most important" innovation in the coming years and which, "like all great technological revolutions," will transform the way people work, learn, and relate to each other.
"The question is not whether change will come. The question is who that change will serve: a few or society as a whole," he pointed out, insisting that political decisions will determine how the fruits of innovation are distributed.
In this regard, he rejected approaches that call for cutting regulations to boost European competitiveness against other major powers. "Some say that to compete, Europe must deregulate. Those who say that are the same ones who led the world to the financial crisis with that same recipe," he recalled.
Having "good rules"
As he explained, the discussion is not about having more or less regulation, but about having "good rules" that make it possible to reconcile innovation with rights, economic growth with equity, and competitiveness with social protection.
In line with this approach, the head of the Executive defended that artificial intelligence must be subject to rules that ensure its benefits reach all citizens and are not concentrated in an elite. "Technology can create wealth, but only democracy can distribute its benefits," he maintained.
He placed these reflections in an international scenario where "fear has become a powerful force in politics," alluding to concern about the war, the risk of "economic decline," or the fear that future generations will have worse living conditions than previous ones.
"Every inequality we tolerate is a wound in our democracy and those wounds feed the far-right," stated the President of the Government, who also defended that closing social gaps is not only a matter of social justice, but also a way to shield and strengthen democratic institutions.