The Secretary of State for Defence, Amparo Valcarce, defended on Tuesday in Congress the legality of the 0% loans worth $14.2 billion that the government has granted to the sector in recent months because “the regulations have not been amended” and “we are doing exactly what our European partners are doing,” taking advantage of the exception allowed by Article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which exempts Member States from complying with advertising rules in recruitment to protect national security.
Appearing before the House of Representatives Defense Committee, Valcars stressed that these loans were arranged “with complete confidentiality and guarantee of state control,” “exquisitely applying the law on public sector contracts” and taking into account the “technological exclusivity” of suppliers, while giving priority to national companies “in vital areas” that reduce technological dependence on third countries.
Some of the loans were questioned by Agustín Conde, former Secretary of State for Defense in the government of Mariano Rajoy, who cited $6.7 billion as having been granted “by hand” to Indra and Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E), a company where Conde worked for a very short period as a consultant.
“The goal is not to enrich some at the expense of the lives of our soldiers,” said Conde, who even spoke of a “crime against the country” and cited a contract to supply the Turkish company TAI Hürjet with a training aircraft “which is not from the European Union,” for $3.12 billion, and who stressed that this article of the EU Treaty was invoked “illegally.”
“Listening to him, one would think that he had previously devoted himself, to say the least, to writing horror novels,” Valcarsi attacked Conde, who was reminded of the Council of Europe’s veto against him in 2021, accused of favoring the Azerbaijani regime in 2015 and 2016 when he served as an observer in parliamentary elections. He told him that the “difference” between his time as María Dolores de Cospedal’s second-in-command in the Defense Ministry was that the government at the time left the ministry’s budget in “want” and “did not allow it.”
Valcarce stressed that defense spending rose from 0.93% of GDP in 2018 to 2% this year without “changing the rules of the game” and “with legal mechanisms introduced” to “fulfill our obligations to the European Union and NATO.”
The Secretary of State for Defense confirmed that the “origin” of the problems of Telefonica, which filed an Employment Regulatory File (ERE) to dismiss 6,000 people, was the Aznar government’s “skinny sale” in the 1990s of the former public telecommunications monopoly. “When the Socialist Party rules, we must rebuild state participation” and “Telefonica’s future is good and will be better.”
Valcarce confirmed that in the Dragon 8×8 armored vehicle program developed by Indra, EM&E, General Dynamics and Sapa, with significant delays, deliveries will be completed “in 2028” and “achieve all expectations.” Corresponding sanctions were applied, to which the companies “abandoned appeal”, and on 28 November, the “technical aspects of the contract” were reviewed in order to “incorporate more technology and, in the first place, further modernisation”, which implied a “corresponding readjustment in pensions and deliveries” for the planned 348 vehicles.
Modifications affect configurations or update requirements for the simulator or weapon system trainer. He stressed that it would not mean new delays. “The deadline is 2028,” 11 units were delivered at the beginning of this year and “the company informed the program office that it plans to deliver a tactical batch of 57 vehicles.” “All of this does not mean any reduction or cancellation of the legally corresponding penalties.” The Minister of Foreign Affairs did not specify the additional costs that the new agreement would include.
“The first vehicles delivered are of very high quality and reliability” and “the important thing” is that work is being done to “accelerate” deliveries and “technologically enhance” the vehicles that “should be a hallmark of the Army.”
“an opportunity”
Regarding the Israeli disengagement plan, which the People’s Party described as “a decision based on ideology and incoherent approaches,” he stressed that it means that the government “does not buy or sell weapons” to this country, neither for reforms nor for technologies, and that it is a “challenge” that could become an “opportunity” for the national defense industry.
It is a decision that was taken, according to Valcarce, “with consistency and great responsibility. We do not subject our security or defense to any country that conflicts with international legitimacy.” Israel’s veto “strengthened strategic independence, technological sovereignty and above all the guarantee of secure supplies” and “supported the national defense industry. What was previously provided by foreign companies is now done by Spanish companies, with Spanish employment, Spanish technology and also complete control over our capabilities.”
In response to a question about how to develop the Spike and Sealam programs, which rely on Israeli technology, she indicated that “very specific” technologies are being sought in Spain, the European level, or “third countries that are among the partner countries or allied countries but also guarantee supply to us,” in order to “redirect agreements and search for national alternatives.”
Valcarce stressed that the Ministry of Defense has not awarded contracts to the Chinese company Huawei, which the European Commission classifies as a “high-risk supplier”, in “legal interception of communications, intelligence or cybersecurity” and contracts of other state agencies such as the Center for National Intelligence (CNI) or the Ministry of the Interior are implemented “with their own powers.” “From an industrial point of view,” relations with the United States are “excellent,” through companies such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics or BASIC Saba.
He stated that the State Society for Industrial Shares (SEPI), which owns 10% of Telefónica, is “a strategic instrument in the implementation of the government’s industrial policies”, is “very present in the defense industry” and “is the best example of public-private cooperation”.
Through its stakes in the operator, Navantia (100%), Epicom (40%), Indra (28%), Hispasat (10.3%) and Airbus (4.1%), it is a “key player in the security and defense business”, with the industry representing a “strategic pillar” due to its contribution to state coffers, generation of “highly qualified” jobs, and its contribution to ensuring strategic independence and development of advanced production capabilities. Of high quality goods and services. Strategic value.
Asked about the possibility of splitting up Navantia to transfer some of its assets to Indra, she said: “I did not come to repeat rumors or hoaxes.” “Not winning a contract is completely different from not losing it,” he told former People’s Minister Elvira Rodriguez, after listing the tenders that the Public Shipyard Group had not won in recent years.