The Minister of the Presidency and spokesperson for the Government, Meritxell Budó, has expressed the commitment of the Government to promote a law on the Third Social Sector, which “recognizes entities as a public service and guarantees their sustainability” through a structural subsidy, which are absolutely necessary, beyond the occasional subsidies'. "This law will guarantee their viability", she concluded.

Mertixell Budó made these statements in an informative appearance after the meeting of the Social Emergency Board that took place this morning at Palau de Pedralbes in Barcelona, convened by the Catalan Ombudsman, Rafael Ribó. The government spokeswoman emphasized that “it was a very important first meeting”, because the Administration and entities “started from a shared diagnosis and the will to face this reality”. He added that this shared diagnosis "is important in defining the measures we need to take in order to protect the most vulnerable groups due to the health pandemic, which has led to an economic and social crisis".

In addition, the Minister Budó noted that “as Government we are committed to the Social Emergency Board to plan and provide financial resources to confront the immediate impact generated for this economic crisis ” and, at the same time, these resources “should be consolidated as a structural subsidy”.

The government spokesperson also pointed out that "the social rights of all the people of our country must be guaranteed, and they are not guaranteed to everyone". "Our commitment is to continue working together so everyone's social rights are guaranteed", she insisted.

On behalf of the Government, the meeting was attended by the Vice-President of the Government and Minister of Economy and Finance, Pere Aragonès; the Minister of the Presidency and Government spokesperson, Meritxell Budó; the Minister of Education, Josep Bargalló; the Minister of Territory and Sustainability, Damià Calvet; the Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Families, Chakir el Homrani, and the Minister of Business and Knowledge, Ramon Tremosa.

At the initiative of the Catalan Ombudsman, the Social Emergency Board was set up on June 11, and representatives of the Third Sector Board, Caritas Catalonia, the Red Cross, Friends of the Elderly, Food and Community Bank of Sant'Egidio are part of it. The Board was created to address the urgency of care and the detection of needs and priorities to make recommendations for change and improvement to the affected administrations and the Parliament of Catalonia in the current context.