La Toja Forum Highlights Challenges and Solutions for Spain's Competitiveness and Strategic Innovation

At the La Toja Forum, leaders discussed Spain's competitiveness challenges and the critical need for innovation and political rationality to strengthen the economy and pharmaceutical sector.

    Key details

  • • Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for less political polarization and more rationality in Spain.
  • • Spain’s productivity growth lags behind the Eurozone average, impacting wages and investment.
  • • Europe has lost its lead in innovative medicines to the US and China due to declining R&D investment.
  • • Fina Lladós urged increased public investment and better incentives for the pharmaceutical sector.
  • • Discussions emphasized shifting from free trade to smart trade to enhance Europe's economic position.

The recent La Toja Forum brought together political leaders, economists, and industry experts to discuss the pressing issues facing Spain and Europe’s economy, stressing the importance of enhancing competitiveness and reducing political tensions. Prominent figures such as Alberto Núñez Feijóo, president of the PP, and Carlos Cuerpo, Spain's Minister of Economy, exchanged views on the nation’s economic trajectory and the need for regulatory and productivity reforms. Feijóo criticized the current political climate of polarization, advocating for increased rationality to foster growth, while Cuerpo maintained an optimistic outlook pointing to improvements in youth unemployment and European ties.

Trade discussions emphasized a shift from “free trade” to “smart trade,” with the EU's Deputy Director-General for Trade, María Martín Prat, highlighting the need for a rules-based global trade model to secure essential imports. Economists like Alicia García Herrero called for Europe to pursue more self-interested trade policies to bolster competitiveness. Ana Aguilar from Deloitte underscored that Spain’s productivity growth lags behind the Eurozone average, impacting wages and investment, and Teresa García Milá noted Spain's loss in GDP per capita relative to Europe despite strong GDP growth.

Equally urgent were discussions on innovation in strategic sectors, particularly pharmaceuticals. Fina Lladós, president of Farmaindustria, warned that Europe has lost its historical lead in launching innovative medicines to the US and China due to a 25% decline in R&D investment over the past two decades. She urged European authorities to increase public investment and improve incentives for biomedical innovation, framing it as vital for health, economic security, and geopolitical resilience. Lladós stressed that transforming current geopolitical challenges into opportunities requires a committed push toward science and innovation.

The Forum's conversations, encompassing economic policy, trade strategy, and sectoral innovation, reinforced the need for enhanced productivity, regulatory improvement, and political rationality to secure Spain's economic future and maintain Europe’s competitive edge on the global stage.