According to the Basque government’s economy and finance minister, “it would make sense to keep public transport subsidies and review them after the first semester”. In this sense, he has criticized “the lack of coherence” of the government of Spain.
“What you cannot do is to induce a certain addiction in all citizens by offering help and then taking it away when they still need it.” This has been said by the Minister of Economy and Finance of the Basque government. Pedro Azpiazu, referring to the public transport subsidies from the Spanish government. “We understand that the changed attitude of the Spanish government has been highly criticized,” he said in an interview on Radio Euskadi.
Exactly today, the Basque Parliament is debating in a plenary session whether or not to keep these tools for public transport users in the BAC. Azpiazu understands that “maintaining aid without further criteria would not be desirable”, although he believes “it would make sense to maintain aid through the first half of 2023” and assesses the situation at the end of that period “always based on inflation level”. “We can’t keep the subsidies out of inflation,” he said.
In any case, he added, “the decision agrees with the Euskadi Transport Authority and the rest of the competent institutions in the field of transport”. “It corresponds to me to look for the resources and the financing. We would talk about 72 million euros,” he qualified.
Asked about the budget negotiations, he criticized the attitude of the opposition groups who, according to the person in charge of Economy, “were not looking for agreements from the start”. He accused them of proposing “real-world” measures that are impossible to fit into the “budgetary framework”. As he said, “all the opposition was on that side and they didn’t want an agreement.”
On the other hand, without going into details, he has raised that they will start a debate and reflection on the current tax model in January. “You have to make an assessment, put the numbers on the table, analyze the fund and strive for fair and progressive taxation. It is a taxation that has to meet many conditions,” he said.
Finally, regarding the agreement reached between the parliamentary group of EH Bildu in the Congress and the Government of Spain, according to which it will be the foral estates that will manage the taxes on banks and electricity companies, Azpiazu has indicated that this information is not correct: ” They will know what they have sold or bought, but the haciendas will not collect that tax, since it is not a tribute specifically, but a patrimonial fee that we have to negotiate. We have talked about this for a long time. ‘
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Source: EITB
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.
