The Minister for the Ecological Transition argues in favor of maintaining the fuel discount, given the complexity of segmentation by group or income level
The vice president and minister for the ecological transition, Teresa Ribera, has admitted the possibility of applying a “special and additional tax” to both electricity and oil companies, depending on the “need” the state has in the in light of the continued increase in fuel prices and the maintenance of the cost of volatile electricity in the coming months.
With these statements, Ribera points to this new reality after several cabinet colleagues, such as Vice President Yolanda Díaz, chose to increase taxes on energy companies. In any case, Ribera has clarified that these measures should be materialized “in the budget legislation”, as he said in an interview on TVE. “Everyone in his time and always with well-considered and elaborated measures” with the Ministries of Finance and Economy, in charge of the public accounts for 2023, which are already in preparation.
For now, Ribera has limited himself to remembering that as of today, the cost of electricity has a new constraint as the price of gas used to produce electricity in combined cycles is capped. This limitation is EUR 40/MWh, as approved by the European Commission for the so-called ‘Iberian exceptionalism’, compared to the nearly EUR 80/MWh gas costs on the daily market. This measure “will protect us for a few months that complexes are still visible”, the minister has indicated. “If not, we should be seeing hugely high prices,” especially with the heat spikes that much of Spain is dealing with these days, or winter already with cold waves.
Teresa Ribera calculates that the average discount on an invoice of 100 euros will rise to 85 euros when the electricity companies start billing according to the new legal conditions. In addition, he recalled that electricity companies selling electricity above €67/MWh have seen their profits limited for several months in order to prevent prices from skyrocketing in the free or regulated market.
On the other hand, the head of Ecological Transition has clarified that “in a few days” the new package of anti-crisis measures will be known, which will expire on June 30, and of which the main doubt lies around the bonus of 20 cents per liter fueled. Ribera has acknowledged that the government is “studying adequate ways to specify beneficiaries”. In other words: adjust the help per social group or per family income. Although he has also admitted that if this system is “ineffective, convenient and fast”, the Executive’s intention is to “continue with the current system” of assistance to all drivers.
Meanwhile, the price of fuel continues to rise after oil does not fall below $120 a barrel of Brent. In this sense, the minister has indicated that price increases at gas stations “should be followed very seriously” and that the National Competition Commission (CNMC) should “remain vigilant in the event of bad practices”, although she has indicated that the prices of energy commodities around the world “to rise”.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
