Without haste but without losing an eye on the market signals. The Government took its time this Tuesday and left the Council of Ministers without approving any measure to respond to the effects of the war in Iran.
The consequences of the war conflict are already noticeable in energy prices, with electricity once again exploring highs not seen since the previous crisis, and fuels emitting the first alarm signals at gas stations.
“The Government has been working and is working on a comprehensive response plan. All measures are on the table,” assured the Vice President for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, head of Energy.
Vigilance and patience
The response plan, which is yet to be defined, consists of conjunctural and also structural measures focused on the protection of households, businesses and the industrial fabric. And boosting the electrification of the economy, fundamentally with renewable energy. But, for now, the Government prefers to wait.
Aagesen reported at the end of the Council that he had formally requested the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) “maximize supervision” of price increases at gas stations to prevent abusive practices.
The past crisis forced the Government to subsidize discounts on refueling. Now, for the moment, it prefers to wait to gauge the response. After reaching to peek at 120 euros a barrel, crude closed on Monday around 90 euros. On Tuesday it fell again.
Sánchez in two weeks; first, EU
The Government waits and the planned milestones indicate that it wants to take its time. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will not appear before Congress until two weeks from now, on March 25. The Government wants to wait for the European Council on March 19 and 20 and report on it to the Chamber.
First, it expects to complete a round of meetings with all parliamentary groups to gauge their support for the measures it is considering and to hear proposals. All groups, including Vox, which the Executive has excluded in its latest rounds, although Santiago Abascal's party had decided to self-exclude from any other government call.
Body with social agents, Bolaños with the groups
Also, the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, will hold a round of meetings, who plans to receive unions and employers' associations, as well as representative associations of sectors affected by the crisis.
For his part, the person in charge of overseeing the conversations in Congress will be the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños. The groups await him with a long list of proposals. The uncertainty caused by the war and the drums of a new price crisis have spurred the parties, who this Monday presented their solutions.
The opposition leader himself, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, had urged the Government to adopt the first measures on Tuesday, and partners like the BNG did not hide their disappointment at the lack of response in this week's Council of Ministers.
The government's times are different. In the Executive, they argue that the first decree-law with measures after the start of the war in Ukraine took a month and they defend that they are not late. However, the Government had already begun to adopt measures months ago, since the start of the invasion was preceded by a reduction in gas supply that had already been passed on to the shopping basket.
In February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Spain had already been chaining for four months CPI increases above 5%. And already the previous summer the Government had initiated the tax reductions associated with the electricity bill that the opposition now demands from it.
Brussels calls for fiscal responsibility
The fiscal route is, precisely, the one preferred by the European Commission, which this Tuesday spoke through the Commissioners for Energy, Dan Jorgensen, and Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, reports Álvaro Villarroel.
It is no novelty. Brussels has been pronouncing itself in favor of reducing the tax burden on energy bills as a means to reduce costs. They also bet on efficiency and flexibility measures in contracting, and ignored price intervention, a path that the latest agreed energy reform does allow, but which is not yet ready to come into force.
Both commissioners, however, stressed that the measures should be adopted by those countries that had sufficient fiscal margin as to not incur in imbalances of their public accounts.
Despite it still being early, the words anticipate the apprehension of the European authorities given the possibility of skirting, this time, the fiscal rules, a variable that would condition the scope of the response to the crisis.