Agreement between PSOE and Sumar to approve the freezing of rents. This Friday, the extraordinary Council of Ministers approved two royal decree-laws, one with the bulk of the fiscal and economic measures to confront the effects of the war in the Middle East; and another specific one on housing, after the proposal of the minority partner of the coalition, which has delayed the cabinet meeting for more than two hours.
As elDiario.es has learned, the agreement was closed after President Pedro Sánchez met bilaterally with Vice President Yolanda Díaz and, later, with the rest of Sumar’s ministers, who demanded housing measures and control of the business margins of energy companies to apply the VAT reductions on fuel.
Specifically, the first text has the bulk of the fiscal measures, such as the VAT reduction to 10% for fuels, and a special reinforcement of business margins to ensure that the tax cut is transferred to the final price. Also protection measures for vulnerable groups.
The second text includes the freezing of rents, which will be applied from the moment it is published in the Official State Gazette, although at the expense of the partners being able to overthrow it in Congress. This publication will be tomorrow, in principle. Both parties assume that the housing measures will fall due to the vote against Junts, but Sumar values that the Council of Ministers has approved this second royal decree-law, which will be applicable until its vote in the lower house within a period of 30 days. If PP and Junts overthrow it, they argue from the minority partner of the coalition, they will be portrayed before the citizens.
A reduction in VAT on fuel to 10%
The Government had been engaged in an intense internal debate for weeks about whether the response to the war in Iran should include housing matters, especially after the social shield, with anti-eviction protection, was repealed on two occasions in the Congress of Deputies due to Junts’ refusal to support it.
From the socialist wing, with the Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, leading the negotiations, they had been cooling for days on the possibility of adopting measures such as the freezing of rents that Sumar demanded. From Economy they stressed that the effects of the war were being felt above all through the price of fuel and that these measures had to be “adjusted” and centralized in the most affected sectors, such as the countryside or transportation.
The Government has introduced, among the fiscal measures, a reduction in VAT on electricity and gas from 21% to 10%, as well as a series of discounts on electricity and the guarantee of basic supplies, one of the measures included in the social shield that Congress overturned. The Executive has also included the reinforced electrical and thermal social bonus, given the increases in oil and gas prices.
This special focus on the countryside and transport will translate into specific aid, such as discounts of 20 cents per liter, and reinforced price control by the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) to prevent this aid from increasing the business margins of energy companies instead of being passed on to the consumer.
In terms of labor, the Executive has included the prohibition of dismissing companies that receive public aid to mitigate it for objective reasons derived from this crisis, as this newspaper has reported.
Among other “structural” measures the Executive has included in the response package are deductions for energy efficiency and the acquisition of electric vehicles, as well as a boost to renewable energies, through the promotion of shared self-consumption and support for energy cooperatives.
Source: www.eldiario.es
