Left groups in Congress are not willing to let the energy tax and, for this reason, they are going to fight in the negotiation of the fiscal package that the Government wants to promote in the Lower House.
A few weeks ago, The PSOE closed an agreement with Junts and the PNV to process a series of amendments to the law that will set a minimum effective rate of 15% in Corporate Tax for large multinationals (a mandate from the European Union).
In that pact, the socialists assumed drop the energy tax (an extraordinary and temporary tax that expires at the end of December) and reconvert the banking tax into a progressive tax (depending on the size of each entity), which takes into account the evolution of interest rates and bank accounts. entities when setting the rate, and that it be agreed with Euskadi and Navarra.
With this agreement, Pedro Sánchez’s men guarantee the support of conservative groups from the investiture bloc to the fiscal package that they want to promote for 2025, but they have also awakened the distrust of progressive groupswho agree on the need to save the tax, although they differ on the strategy to follow.
When this pact was known, Sumar announced that he would not vote in favor of the same for dropping the tax on electricity companies and for considering that it weakened a tax on banks that has collected more than 1.6 billion euros this year. However, this Monday those of Yolanda Díaz closed an agreement with the PSOE to introduce new taxes and reform some existing ones that did not include the renewal or conversion of the energy tax into a permanent one.
Despite this, Sumar assures that they do not give up on saving the tax on energy companies and have already advanced that will keep the amendments alive that include this element when voting on the fiscal package. Those of Díaz remember, however, that in the correlation of forces in Congress a progressive majority does not prevail and they specify that their objective is to get the best possible tax proposal in a country that presents significant gaps between capital income and labor income when it comes to helping to support the State coffers.
But what with Sumar’s “yes” could seem like a agreement on track changed completely this Monday, when the vote on the opinion of the Finance Commission on the legislative package that includes the modification of the banking tax and the fall of the energy tax. As this medium already told, Republican Left (ERC) and EH Bildu They stopped the vote because they do not want to go through the hoop of eliminating the tax on energy companies.
Different strategies among the left
There is, therefore, a difference with Sumar’s strategy. It is true that those of Yolanda Diaz They have already said that they are not giving up their amendment to maintain said tax, but they also insist that the fiscal package negotiated with the Government has good things and they believe that it is pertinent. don’t let everything fall. ERC and EH Bildu, on the other hand, remain strong in conditioning their votes on this.
In any case, the intention is to negotiate to reach an agreement. Little is known, at the moment, about the literal tenor of the conversations or if there is any type of imaginative formula to unravel the situation. An authoritative voice of the Republicans slips that “we are working to unclog it“.
The hours between the evening of this Tuesday and Thursday, when the Finance Commission is scheduled to meet again to vote on the opinion again, will be long. EH Bildu sources confirm that they are talking intensively with the PSOE.
“We are going to try in every way and until the last minute that there is a broad, balanced and comprehensive agreement viable for all groups, which contemplates the maintenance of taxes on energy companies and banking along with other proposals,” the abertzales.
It is a position similar to the one held Can. “There are always ways to understand each other,” say sources from the purples: “They can’t ask us waive the energy tax“. The party that leads Ione Belarra criticizes that the PSOE has chosen to negotiate first with Junts per Catalunya and the PNV, but does not rule out that an understanding can be reached. In any case, all the sources consulted – without any exception – see it difficult.
The Government wants to “redirect” and does not rule out compensation
The other leg of the negotiation is the Government. The sources consulted from the Moncloa indicate that their priority is to try “redirect“the negotiations so that ERC, EH Bildu and Podemos do not vote against the fiscal measures. In principle, according to these same sources, the objective is that before this Thursday An agreement is reached and the vote in the Finance Commission does not have to be postponed again.
Socialist sources point out that the parliamentary composition “is what it is” and that the groups must understand that situation. “Everyone has to give in something and the agreement with Sumar maintains one of the two taxes despite the fact that Junts and PNV wanted both to decline.”
In the socialist wing of the Executive they emphasize that they will not rest to negotiate a good pact that satisfy all parties although they recognize the complexity due to the requests found between the blocks. The sources consulted do not rule out that they may be offered counterparts in other matters to convince ERC, EH Bildu and Podemos.
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