The Government has reached an agreement with carriers in order to reverse the “disproportionate” rise in fuel prices and has announced a package with thirty measures that represents an economic “effort” of more than 1,000 million euros. Among them, there is a discount of 20 cents per liter in fuel for the sector that includes diesel, gasoline, gas and adBlue, of which the State will contribute 15 cents and the oil companies a minimum of 5 cents per liter.
This has been transferred by the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, this Friday morning at a press conference after the meeting that took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Transport between the Government and the carriers and which began at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.
This measure, which will be in force until June 30, although it will be extendable “according to the evolution of the markets”, explained the minister, follows the example of neighboring countries, such as France, Italy and Portugal, which will apply from next June 1 April discounts of between 15 cents and 30 euro cents.
Likewise, the Government will launch direct aid for an amount of 450 million euros for freight and passenger transport companies depending on the type of vehicle. Specifically, the amount will be 1,250 euros per truck, 950 per bus, 500 euros per van and 300 euros per light vehicle, which includes taxi, VTC and ambulances.
On the other hand, the maturity period of credits guaranteed by the ICO will be extended to 8-10 years and the grace period of the credits guaranteed by the ICO will be extended by six months. A new line of credit guaranteed by the ICO will also be created with a 12-month grace period, the minister explained.
Among other measures included in the agreement with the National Land Transport Council, the minister highlighted that the Government will double the budget for aid for abandoning the carrier profession, going from 10 to 20 million euros in the General Budgets of the Status of 2022.
Raquel Sánchez has also advanced that her department will work on a bill text to apply “as soon as possible” to the freight transport sector the principles contained in the law of the food chain in relation to production costs, which will be presented before of July 31.
Call to resume activity
Thus, the minister has called for a transport strike, convened since March 14, so that “normality is restored” and has also demanded that it “be responsible” and not generate “more uncertainty” in society because the demands “have been met.” “There are no reasons or now excuses not to fully resume activity and, of course, the immediate cessation of violent acts,” she stressed.
In this context, he stressed that this agreement has been forged with the “interlocutors of the sector” who have been democratically elected, it is a “great agreement” and he urged the protesters to read it to him.
In parallel and together with the new package that includes 30 measures, the Minister of Transport has recalled some of those already approved by the Government in the recent Royal Decree Law 3/2022, validated in court on March 1, such as the prohibition of the loading and unloading operations of the merchandise by the drivers; the limitation to one hour of waiting times in the loading and unloading areas, with the right to be compensated if this limit is exceeded or the reinforcement of the transport inspection, which will have more means to fight against fraud, among others.
Industry role
The agreement, which will be presented by the members of the Committee to their associations, must be endorsed throughout this Friday by the sector for its entry into force so that normality can be recovered in a “strategic sector” for Spain, as the minister has mentioned.
For his part, the president of the National Road Transport Committee, Carmelo González, recalled that the current situation is exceptional and therefore requires “exceptional measures”, for which he has valued the agreement with the department he directs Rachel Sanchez.
Similarly, he pointed out that the aid of 500 million to cover the cost of fuel has been an “important issue” to agree on, as well as the publication of its weekly reference to see the evolution of its price. “We hope to know what specific measures are going to be developed to revitalize an essential sector. 97% of goods move on roads », he pointed out.
Finally, González highlighted other measures that Congress validated in the royal decree for the sustainability of transport, among which he cited the reduction of waiting time or the prohibition of loading and unloading for the carrier. In addition, he has apologized “to all those companies, freelancers and other sectors” for a transport stoppage that, as he has said, the Committee “has never wanted.”
The idea is that the State assumes part of that cost and the oil companies the rest. In fact, Repsol has already announced that it will lower the price of its fuel by 10 cents per liter for carriers who pay with the Solred card from Saturday March 26 to June 30.
Among the countries around us, the approved rebates range from 0.15 euros per liter approved by France for a period of four months (from April) to 0.25 euros for a month in Italy. In Portugal, the bonus is up to 0.30 euros in transports of 35 tons for three months.
Negotiation
The meeting was led by the Vice President Nadia Calviño -who carries the weight of the negotiations-, the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, and the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, all of them aware of how much the Executive is at stake in terms of credibility for its handling of the crisis. Especially given the chaos experienced in recent days with the fear of scarcity and shortages that has caused many consumers to stockpile food in a way, in many cases, almost compulsively.
The pressure on the Government in recent days has also come from the large business associations, CEOE and Cepyme, due to the damage and stoppages in production that many companies affected by the delay in supplies are suffering.
The agreement reached late on Thursday may calm things down. But it will not achieve the social peace pursued by the Government. And it is that the Platform for the Defense of the Transport Sector, promoter of the stoppages that began on March 14, was not summoned to the meeting held yesterday at the Ministry of Transport. Nor has it been the case for the rest of the meetings held these weeks with the different branches of the CNTC, whom the Government considers the legitimate interlocutor of the sector to resolve the conflict. “It represents 90% of the companies. Another thing is that the structure of the sector is made up of freelancers who are hired by these companies, which is what is giving rise to individual stoppages, not a strike, ”explain sources from the Executive. Already early in the morning, the representative of the Platform, Manuel Hernández, warned that the strikes will not be called off until they sit down at the table with the Government, despite the fact that many of their demands are the same as those of the bosses. majority has defended in these days of intense negotiations.
The division is absolute. “They fear that it is a street organization, born and directed by truckers, with which they have to reach agreements” Hernández criticized yesterday through his social networks. “We are not bought with money or subsidies, the problem is fixed for us,” he insists. For this reason, they maintain the strikes called for this Friday in different cities, with Madrid as the center of the protests at the gates of the Ministry of Transport.
The division has even reached the center of the Executive. Faced with the refusal to meet with the organizers of the strikes, the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, yesterday advocated the search for solutions “with the sector as a whole”, insisting that the mobilized carriers “are the most vulnerable”. She thus distances herself from the discourse used by some ministers who in recent days had described the strikers as violent from the extreme right.
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