Almost two months after the investiture of Pedro Sanchezthe Spanish government looked into it first major fire test of the Legislature, in an agonizing session in which he collected a bittersweet victory. Parliament, assembled in the Senate, was called upon to validate it three important decrees was approved by the Council of Ministers in December and on which the receipt of part of the payments depended European funds (10 billion), the increase in Pensions he was born Unemployment benefitsas well as VAT reduction At Groceries and on energy. The negotiations between the executive and the government partner parties, which threatened to reject the measures, Podemos And Junts, lasted until the last minute, but the dialogue was only of limited use. Two out of three decrees were approved by a single vote (172 yes against 171 no) and thanks to the decision of the Catalan Independence Party of Do not take part in any voting. The third decree, which included the exaltation of Unemployment benefitsWas rejected with the opposing votes Podemos and desopposition.
For days, the government had focused its attention on negotiations with the United States Juntswhich threatened to reject the decrees in view of this part of their content penetrated the skills from that Generalitat Catalan, exacerbated the “underfunding” of the Catalonia and disabled the amnesty. This time, however, it was an old partner who said no to the government, Podemoswho announced his exit at the beginning of December Sumar keep going mixed group In the Congress of Deputies. On this occasion, the party's general secretary said, Ione Belarraassured that he had no intention of jeopardizing this Executive stability.
However, a month later the five representatives of Podemos voted no to the decree of the Ministry of Labor (which received 176 votes against and 167 against) which provided for the following: the increase in the subsidy of unemployment from 480 to 570 euros in the first six months, to stabilize at 540 euros in the following six months. Podemos voted no to the decree that provided for the entry into force of this new system in June, because it considers that the rule implies a Reduction of the contribution base of those over 52 who receive the subsidy and therefore would reduce their pensions. The scheme approved by the government provides for a contribution of 120% of the minimum base in 2024 (compared to 125% previously), gradually decreasing up to 100%. The Ministry of Labor denies that this is a cut and claims that the 125% contribution compensates for a “low minimum wage“, which increased increasingly during the legislative period.
The decree also provided for the extension of the subsidy to unemployed under 45 years of age without dependent family members, until time employees of Agriculture sector and to those cross-border the Spanish enclaves in Morocco From Ceuta And Melilla. Therefore for now This does not increase the subsidy for the 700,000 people who benefit from it.
The rest of the decrees were approved Draft laws in order to then incorporate the changes requested by the remaining parties. The first includes measurements for limit the consequences of inflation. It provides for the extension of most of the measures in force for the last two years (2022 and 2023). VAT 0% on products Staple food and the 5% tax on pasta and oil: the government estimates that families were able to do this save around 1.3 billion euros in 2023 thanks to the tax cut. It includes energy measures such as a 65% to 80% discount on electricity bills for the most vulnerable families VAT on electricity is 10% (in 2022 it was reduced to 5%), well below the 21% in 2021.
The text also maintains this free of public transport of medium-haul trips for frequent travelers, the increase in contributory pensions by 3.8% based on the consumer price index (CPI) and the increase in the minimum life income by 6.9% as well as the Extension of evictions for vulnerable families. The extraordinary tax for banks and energy companies will also be expanded financial assets: good news for them Spanish tax which he collected in 2022 more than 3 billion euros.
The last approved and most criticized decree Juntsis known as “omnibus“. As the minister explained Felix BolañosThe text contains measures to implement the recovery, transformation and resilience plan in relation to justice And function public. In particular, it promotes the process of Digitalization of the judiciary and its efficiency. Junts immediately rejected this decree and called for the deletion of a measure contained in the text, which, according to the party hinders the application of the amnesty.
The deputy of the independent formation, Miriam Nogueras, claimed to have negotiated with the government until the end. “It was irresponsible not to negotiate the decree with junts before it was approved in the Council of Ministers,” said Nogueras, who has sharply criticized the government in recent days for misusing the instrument Decree Law. The pro-independence group's decision not to vote comes after an agreement with the executive branch, which, among other things, delegates authority on matters immigrationthe reduction ofVAT on oil at 0%and the deletion of an article contained in the omnibus decree would have hindered the amnesty, according to the party.
However, the government's partial victory, which was doubtful until the last minute, shows that precarious stability the majority, which is influenced by the demands of parties such as B. depends Junts And Podemos, with the addition of the start of the campaign for the European elections. Even before the formation of the new executive branch was the leader of the Junts Carles PuidgemontIn fact, he had warned Sánchez that he had to earn the stability of the government.day after day“ and that what matters is “compliance” with the agreements.