Spain’s Economic Policy in a New Phase of European Integration

On April 29, 2021, IMEMO RAS held a round table chaired by the Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Directorate of IMEMO RAS V.G. Baranovsky and organized by the Center of European Studies of the IMEMO RAS under the leadership of Candidate of Historical Sciences Yu.D. Kvashnin. The round table participants analyzed the key problems of modern Spain's economy in the context of the emergence of new challenges of a global and regional nature. The discussion focused on the dynamics of the Spanish economy and its reaction to both a set of internal problems and external crises. In the context of unprecedented support for citizens and businesses from European regulators, Spain has become one of the primary beneficiaries in the distribution of European funds. Until 2027, the country will receive 170 billion euros. On the one hand, this will significantly boost the potential of the national economy in the long term regarding the country's role for the EU resilience and sustainability. The country's business is capable of significantly accelerating the economy through a successful foreign economic sector. The EU funds' emphasis on the Green Deal and the dominance of a government coalition with a special focus on the Green Agenda create favorable conditions for the promotion of Spanish energy multinationals at the global level. Nevertheless, Spain has been facing a number of socio-economic and political problems for a long time. Among them are high unemployment rate, significant budget deficit and political instability. The pandemic has greatly exacerbated the complexity of this range of problems. Their solution depends on the ability of the national political establishment to consolidate the existing levers and to ensure sustainable development of the economy through reforms. The assimilation of all-European fund resources, record for the country, greatly simplifies the tasks Spain is facing, but a political consensus is needed. The main speakers of the event included A.V. Avilova, K.A. Nikulin and G.N. Ponedelko from the Center of European Studies of the IMEMO RAS; I.L. Prokhorenko from the Department of International Political Problems of the IMEMO RAS; V.M. Tayar and P.P.Yakovlev from the Center of Iberian Studies of the Institute of Latin America RAS; T.V. Sidorenko from the National Research University Higher School of Economics; and T.I. Malashenko from the Department of Business Administration of the joint venture 'Digital Industrial Platform'. The review of the round table discussions was prepared by Kirill A. Nikulin, the junior researcher of the Center of European Studies of the IMEMO RAS (nikulin@imemo.ru, ORCID: 0000-0001-6314-0447.