The Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, has defended that the Executive study recovering the gas cap, the well-known “Iberian exception”, in case the increase in energy prices linked to the war in the Middle East continues.
In an interview on “TVE”, has admitted that, in their judgment, more “social shield” measures are necessary, given that the conflict does not point to resolving itself in the short term.
“It seems we are heading towards a scenario of prolonged war (...) If the war continues (...) if we are going to tensions in international energy markets, the Government is prepared and will undoubtedly have to take more measures,” he stressed.
Return to "the Iberian exception"
In this context, he has considered that one of the decisions that foreseeably will have to be adopted, and that has already been put on the table in recent days, is “to reactivate the Iberian exception”. “At some point the Government also has to consider if this continues like this to reactivate the Iberian exception”, Urtasun has stressed.
He also recalled that the Government has begun to deploy a new package of anti-crisis measures, among them the tax reduction decree, and has called on all parliamentary groups to also validate the extension of rents, which it considers essential if inflation remains high, especially in basic products such as food. “This is what we are going to fight for in Sumar,” he insisted.
Likewise, it has explained that the first decree includes a mechanism to monitor the extraordinary profits of large companies, which is why it has urged the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) to strictly supervise those margins and to verify that tax reductions are effectively passed on to a reduction in fuel prices.