The Government has decided to extend the temporary tax on energy companies by royal decree-law as it does not have sufficient parliamentary support to convert it into a permanent tax. The coalition Executive has taken a step forward in the Council of Ministers this Monday, but has not managed to convince either its partners on the left or the right. PNV and Junts remain aligned with the interests of Repsol, Cepsa, Iberdrola, Endesa or Naturgy and have been warning that they will not support a new tax on the profits of this oligopolistic sector. Podemos has assured that it will not support the decree either because it fails to comply with the agreement they reached with the PSOE to make the tax permanent.
“This Government complies with its commitments to the different political parties, to the extent that the tax is maintained in 2025 and we incorporate deductions linked to decarbonization and the energy transition,” said President Pedro Sánchez, at a press conference. This same Monday, the PNV spokesperson in the Congress of Deputies, Aitor Esteban, pointed out that the approval of the decree for the extension of the tax on energy companies is “pure excuse for Podemos” to “talk about the same thing again.” since the Government of Pedro Sánchez “knows that it is not going to come out.” For her part, the co-spokesperson of the ‘purple’ party, Isa Serra, has also denied her support for the new temporary extension.
The tax on energy companies has been the great fiscal battle between the partners on the left and right of the coalition government since Congress achieved a majority in November to carry out a “fiscal package” that did include the tax on the banks, along with other tax measures such as the 15% floor for the corporate tax of multinationals. This package was linked to the Executive’s commitment to Podemos, ERC, Bildu and BNG to also extend that of the energy companies before the end of the year, when the temporary tax that was designed in 2022 expires.
In recent weeks, the Government has been unable to start the design of a bill and finally kicks things off with the royal decree-law this Monday. This extension incorporates bonuses for ‘green’ investments by energy companies, as requested by PNV and Junts. With this condition, recently, the Bank of Spain calculated that it would have a significantly lower collection than anticipated in September [en 2023 fue de cerca de 1.000 millones].
Serra has also conveyed his rejection of the increase in the diesel tax, another measure that was dropped from the November fiscal “package”, given that it does not have a progressive logic and burdens the working classes with the consequences of climate change when it should fall on the working classes. large multinationals. “It is ridiculous to remove taxes from large energy companies, which are the ones that sell diesel and those that pollute the most, and to make working families pay more taxes,” he criticized.
Discounts on public transport
Sánchez has also announced the extension of discounts for public transport users. In this case, it is a measure agreed upon by Podemos, which will allow the discounts to be maintained, as they are, for six more months, until the end of June. The Government had considered the option of continuing these discounts, which were launched two years ago with the take-off of inflation, but only for some groups, such as regular users, young people or people in vulnerable situations.
Sánchez has highlighted the positive evolution of public transport, with increases of 13%, and confirmed this extension of the discounts until June. Afterwards, they will be followed by “a broad package of discounts for travelers”, which suggests that they will be linked to certain groups starting in the summer.
Until then, they remain as they are. That is to say, the free Renfe passes for Cercanías, Rodalies and Media Distancia and the bus lines under the jurisdiction of the State will continue for six more months, as well as direct aid to promote the reduction of, at least, 50% of the price of multi-trip passes and tickets for urban and interurban collective transport. It must be remembered that the Government subsidizes, in this case, a 30% discount, provided that autonomous communities and city councils undertake to complement the discounts so that, at least, the price of these transport services is reduced by half.
Like the transportation discounts, a one-year extension to the suspension of evictions of people in vulnerable situations was also agreed with Podemos, which, in this case, was activated in the social shield activated with the pandemic.
Economic growth
In his speech, after the Council of Ministers this Monday, Pedro Sánchez highlighted that “Spain triples the economic growth of the EU, systematically exceeding the forecasts of all organizations.” The President of the Government recalled that ‘The Economist’ has chosen our country as the best economy in the world in 2024, “in an uncertain geopolitical context.”
“It is very relevant to highlight the findings of the weekly ‘The Economist’,” he added, because, in his opinion, they are achieving “modernization of the productive fabric, creating employment and being fiscally responsible.” In fact, Sánchez has announced that Spain will reduce the deficit (the imbalance between public income and expenditure) to the target of 3% in 2025.
Among the reasons that explain the strength of the economy, the President of the Government has listed that Spain has become the main exporting economy in the EU and is the first Member State to implement the Recovery Plan. “The good performance of the macroeconomy is helping to improve people’s lives, which is seen in the recovery of purchasing power and the increase in consumption,” he continued.
“Another factor is the increase in export activity, we have always been more importers than exporters, but it has increased by 40%. In 2024 we will be the first exporting economy in Europe, above Germany, it is a productive change and growth model. Companies have more and more business and prestige abroad,” he commented.
“So is investor confidence. Today we receive foreign direct investment 16% greater than before the pandemic, a destination for strategic bets for the automobile sector, more than 4,000 million Stellantis together with CATL for the construction of a battery factory in Zaragoza, where the automobile industry “I didn’t have the presence I deserved,” he continued.
“Spain has managed to create 400,000 jobs in the last year, reaching the highest number of people working in our country. “We are creating more jobs than Italy and Germany combined, to put it in perspective,” Sánchez explained. “With all the difficulties we still have, we think especially about housing, an excessively high unemployment rate and productivity, young people are benefiting from economic growth,” he detailed.
The president has also emphasized reducing the gender gap and the female unemployment rate to its historic lows. Sánchez has assured that Spain has reached ten million women affiliated with social security, with a greater presence of women in historically male sectors and in positions of responsibility. “The gender gap in our country is three times smaller than when we progressives came to government in 2018,” he expressed. The male unemployment rate has also been reduced by 3.1% since the arrival of the PSOE to the Government, according to the data communicated by the president during the press conference after the Council of Ministers.
#Government #extends #temporary #tax #energy #companies #decree #parliamentary #support
