The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has reached an agreement with the freight department of the National Road Transport Committee (CNTC), which brings together the main business associations in the sector, to push forward a new Royal Decree-Law with additional measures aimed at mitigating the effect of the war in the Middle East on transport activity.
This understanding has been closed after a new meeting held this Monday, in which representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy also participated, as communicated by both the Ministry itself and the CNTC.
The contemplated package of measures foresees a modification of the formula for reviewing transport prices linked to the variation in fuel cost, so that it is not necessary to adjust it again in future crises, by being referenced to the price of fuel before taxes. With current values, the weight of fuel in said formula would increase from 30% to 40%.
Likewise, the obligation to detail on the invoice the adjustment for fuel price variation provided for in "Royal Decree-Law 3/2022" will be established, eliminating the option to expressly include in contracts any other modality to reflect this adjustment.
In addition, the decree will integrate the measures agreed upon in the last meeting of last Friday, which were applied immediately through a technical note: the average prices of diesel must be used as a reference without taxes and, to calculate the revision of the transport price, neither bonuses nor extraordinary aid may be computed.
Finally, the Ministry commits to studying, within the framework of this package, the creation of a sanctioning type that punishes the non-compliance with the previous measures. Both parties also agree to keep operational a permanent negotiation table to address the issues that remain pending and that require the approval of an authorization or of a temporary framework for State aid by the European Commission.