José Luis Escriva worked at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel at the beginning of 2014. Previously, he had worked at BBVA and had headed the monetary policy division of the European Central Bank. A CV that seemed appropriate to the government of Mariano Rajoy at the time to propose him, in February of that year, as president of the new Airef (Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility), an independent body designed to guarantee budgetary stability. The PP, which at the time defended his suitability, now believes that the new president of the Bank of Spain will cause “discredit” to the institution.
The PP executive noticed Escrivá because of his curriculum vitae and his preparation. This was evident in the Finance Commission of the Congress that ratified his appointment, on February 20, 2014. PP deputy Ana María Madrazo considered then that his profile was “appropriate” and that it was supported by his “professional career”, as reported in the session journal of that day.
“He is supported by his professional career, which has a long history in various national and international organizations linked to the public and private sector and to the central banks themselves,” said the PP in that session, in which the PSOE abstained despite criticism of the design of the institution itself and not of Escrivá’s profile, which they did not oppose at the time.
Madrazo, a PP deputy, expanded on the arguments in favour of the then Airef president: “You have, as I said, extensive experience and we believe that this accredits you and gives you sufficient capacity to be at the head of an institution that “will play a strategic role in the coming years to achieve the objective of fiscal consolidation of all public administrations.”
During these ten years, the economist chosen by the PP to control the country’s budgetary stability ended up in a socialist government. Pedro Sánchez elected him Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration in 2020 and, in the second stage of the progressive coalition, at the head of Digital Transformation.
In its criticisms, the PP spoke of “discrediting” the institution, although it is true that it focused most of its reproaches on the alleged lack of independence implied by the direct transfer of a minister to the Bank of Spain, a move that had not happened until now.
PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo predicted on Tuesday, on the occasion of the government’s intentions to appoint the current Minister of Digital Transformation as president of the Bank of Spain, that the institution would lose its “prestige” in the European context and would cease to “offer guarantees of independence.” “You can’t be a minister in the morning and a governor in the afternoon,” he said.
Criticisms that PP deputy Jaime de Olano responded to this Wednesday in the Economic Commission of Congress, during the appearance in which the Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, confirmed Escrivá’s appointment. “He will be a judge while he has been gone, which makes him absolutely unfit and also makes his appointment inappropriate,” he said.
“I am not going to question Mr. Escriva’s training. It is true that in Sanchism everything was done, and if you didn’t have a CV, you either copied or invented your CV. But that is certainly not the case with Mr. Escriva. But I would like to talk about independence,” Olano insisted.
According to the law of the Bank of Spain, the President of the Government has the prerogative to appoint the governor of this institution, although it is true that traditionally the two major parties distribute the appointments to the positions of governor and vice-governor among professionals of recognized prestige: The opposition appoints the vice-governor, and the Government, the governor.
In this case, Moncloa sources say, the decision to appoint Escriva without the opposition’s consensus is a response to the PP’s refusal to agree on the renewal of the banking supervisor itself, the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) or the future National Energy Commission (CNE). Meanwhile, in Genoa, it was reported that the election of the minister so far was a sign that the Executive was seeking to “make the agreement impossible.”
This Wednesday, in Congress, the Minister of Economy refuted the PP’s arguments with a closed defense of the appointment. “She has technical skills, European experience and sufficient banking and monetary knowledge,” he said in his initial speech. “She has held positions of maximum responsibility in each of the Bank of Spain’s areas of action,” he added. “She is the ideal candidate.” In response to Olano’s questions, Corpus replied that the independence of the Bank of Spain is guaranteed by the institution’s autonomy law.
In this commission, the spokesman of the PSOE, Pedro Casares, took the opportunity to criticize the PP for having criticized this appointment when Rajoy sent Luis de Guindos to the European Central Bank after passing through the Ministry of Economy.
“Mr De Guindos, Minister of Economy, at the European Central Bank; Ms Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, Vice-President [del Gobierno]State Councilor; José Ignacio Wert, Minister of Education, OECD Ambassador; […] Pilar del Castillo, Minister of Culture, President of the CEI; […] the Minister of the Environment, Elvira Rodriguez, president of the CNMV…», Casares indicated in the commission.
Escrivá’s appointment has received support from some government partners. Sumar’s economic spokesman, Carlos Martín, expressed the opinion that “politics should not be a stain” and also reminded the PP of the case of De Guindos who finds himself in an institution that not only supervises, he said, but also intervenes and decides on the economic policy of the EU states.
Idoia Sagastizabal, from the PNV, followed the same line: “It seems that having political relations is negative. You have to be professional. Ideas and independence can go together perfectly. In government, Escriva showed that he had his own criteria. When he arrived in Congress as president of AIReF [nombrado por el PP]”We did not question his professionalism.”
