Almost two months after the investiture of Pedro Sanchezthe Spanish government addressed the first major fire test of the legislature, in an agonizing session in which he collected a bittersweet victory. The parliament, gathered in the Senate, was called to validate three important decrees approved in December by the Council of Ministers, and on which the reception of part of the payments depended European funds (10 billion), the increase in pensions he was born in unemployment benefitas well as the VAT reduction on foods and on energy. The negotiation between the executive and government partner parties that threatened to reject the measures, We can e together, lasted until the last minute, but the dialogue was only partially useful. 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 participate in any voting. The third decree, which included the increase of unemployment benefitwas failed with the votes against We can and of theopposition.
For days the government had focused its attention on negotiations with togetherwhich threatened to reject the decrees considering that part of their content invaded the skills from the Generalitat Catalan, aggravated the “underfinancing” of the Catalonia and hindered the amnesty. However, this time it was an old partner who said no to the government, We canwho announced his exit from at the beginning of December summer to move on to mixed group In the Congress of Deputies. On that occasion the general secretary of the party, Ione Herbassured that he did not intend to jeopardize the stability of the executive.
However, a month later the five deputies of Podemos voted no to the decree of the Ministry of Labor (which obtained 176 no and 167 yes), which provided for 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, which provided for the entry into force of this new system in June, because it considers that the rule implies a cutting the contribution base of the over 52s who receive the subsidy and therefore would reduce their pensions. The provision approved by the government provides for a contribution equal to 120% of the minimum base in 2024 (compared to the previous 125%), which is progressively reduced up to 100%. The Ministry of Labor denies that this is a cut and claims that the 125% contribution was a way to compensate for a “low minimum wage” which progressively increased during the legislature.
The decree also provided for the extension of the subsidy to unemployed under 45 without dependent family members, to temporary workers of the agricultural sector and to those cross-border of the Spanish enclaves in Morocco Of Ceuta e Melilla. For the moment, therefore, it will not increase the subsidy for the 700 thousand people who benefit from it.
The rest of the decrees were approved as draft laws in order to then include the amendments requested by the rest of the parties. The first includes measurements for limit the consequences of inflation. It provides for the extension of most of the measures in force in the last two years (2022 and 2023), as VAT at 0% on products basic foods and the 5% tax on pasta and oil: the government estimates that families have been able to save around 1.3 billion euros in 2023 thanks to the tax reduction. It includes energy measures such as a 65% to 80% discount on the electricity bill for the most vulnerable families, while VAT on electricity goes to 10% (in 2022 it was reduced to 5%), well below the 21% in 2021.
The text also maintains the free of the public transport of medium distance travel for frequent travellers, the 3.8% increase in contributory pensions based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and the 6.9% increase in the minimum living income, as well as the extension of evictions for vulnerable families. The extraordinary tax on banks and energy companies is also extended assets: good news for the Spanish tax which he collected in 2022 more than 3 billion euros.
The last decree approved, and the one most criticized by togetheris known as “omnibus”. As the minister explained Felix Bolañosthe text includes measures for the execution of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan regarding justice e function public. In particular, it promotes the process of digitalization of justice and its efficiency. Junts immediately proved against this decree, demanding the elimination of a measure included in the text which according to the party hinders the application of the amnesty.
The deputy of the independentist formation, Miriam Nogueras, claimed to have negotiated with the government until the end. “It was irresponsible not to negotiate the decree with Junts before approving it at the Council of Ministers,” said Nogueras, who in recent days had harshly criticized the government for having abused the instrument of law decree. The decision of the pro-independence group not to vote comes after an agreement with the executive which, among other things, delegates powers in matters of immigrationthe reduction ofVAT on oil at 0%and the elimination of an article included in the omnibus decree, according to the party, would have hindered the amnesty.
The government’s partial victory, in doubt until the last minute, however, demonstrates the precarious stability of the majority that depends on the demands of parties such as together e We can, with the addition of the arrival of the electoral campaign for the European elections. Even before the formation of the new executive, the leader of Junts Carles Puigmontin fact, he had warned Sánchez that he would have to earn the stability of the government “day to day” and that it would depend on “compliance” with the agreements.