The Government recovers the majority of the investiture at the start of the last course of the legislature
The Congress will illuminate this Thursday a smooth start to the political course for the coalition government. The decree that includes the energy saving plan will have sufficient support to be validated despite the announced vote against the PP. This Wednesday the PNV made its support official "by responsibility" and both ERC and EH Bildu also took for granted a support that, however, they preferred not to make public at the moment.
From the Executive itself they also considered the necessary votes tied thanks to the parliamentary majority of the investiture, which seems to be getting back on its feet and in good health at the turn of summer after several months of ups and downs that shattered some of the most important measures of the legislature for the Government of Pedro Sánchez. This was also reflected in the Permanent Council this Wednesday, where the partners voted together with the Executive parties against all the requests to appear requested by the PP except that of the Minister of Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez.
The gap opened with the labor reform that ERC, EH Bildu and PNV voted against and that miraculously went ahead, by a single vote, thanks to the famous mistake of the PP deputy Alberto Casero. But he did not stop there. The 'Pegasus' case, which brought to light the wiretapping of independence leaders, caused a political crisis between the PSOE and the ERC that resulted in a withdrawal of parliamentary support from the Republicans for various measures of the Executive. Some turbulence that, for now, seem to be parked.
"Other times they have brought measures here without even negotiating and it is good news that this time it can be negotiated," said the ERC spokesman, Gabriel Rufián, this Wednesday in Congress before recalling that many of the measures in the text already they had been defended by “political forces of the left”, among them his own. The Republicans took their support for the text for granted, although they will not officially announce their position until a few hours before the vote. A position very similar to that of EH Bildu, who also plans to vote 'yes' to the savings plan. "It is a necessary decree that has good measures but that can be improved," said the Basque spokeswoman, Mertxe Aixpurua, in statements to Cadena SER.
Even clearer was the PNV, which already on Wednesday afternoon publicly confirmed its support "out of responsibility, considering that the measures contemplated only make sense if they are applied immediately, and trusting that the energy contingency plan that the Executive The central office will send it to the European Commission in September and will take into account the short, medium and long-term proposals sent by the Basque Government”.
The parliamentary partners of the Executive celebrated the announcement by Minister Teresa Ribera on the processing of the decree as a bill, which gives rise to the incorporation of changes by the rest of the political groups. The Basque and Catalan nationalists and independence supporters will propose "greater flexibility" for the autonomous communities so that they are, depending on their climatic characteristics, the ones that set, for example, the limits on air conditioning and heating because "it is not fair let it be the same for Malaga as it is for Bilbao”, said the Bildu spokeswoman.
This Wednesday's call for the Permanent Delegation of Congress served to confirm once again the lack of understanding between the government groups and the main opposition party.
"I think the news would be that the main opposition party supported some government decree," responded the President of the Executive, Pedró Sánchez, before the questions of the journalists in the press conference after his meeting in Bogotá with the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro. The head of the Executive charged against the PP for exercising, he pointed out, a "negative opposition" and "lacking a sense of state", which does not fulfill "its constitutional obligations."
Next, Sánchez reminded the popular that the decree on energy saving for which support is already tied up in tomorrow's validation in Congress is "the materialization of an agreement between European countries." "Vote 'no' to a savings plan recognized by the president of the European Commission herself, who is not a social democrat, she is a Christian Democrat", considered the president, who then reproached the PP for voting against, by rejecting this decree, " of the working middle class.
For the new parliamentary spokesman for the PSOE, Patxi López, the vote against the energy decree announced by Feijóo's PP means that “they vote against Europe, the European partners and the Spain that needs solidarity. Against carriers and students. They will vote against the Spaniards again. They don't even defend their voters,” he criticized.
López recalled that the savings plan "is a European commitment" and asked himself a question about the position of the opposition. “The question is what does he say yes to? Does anyone know any proposal of the PP that allows saving? This decree is Europe, it is the commitment to European partners, it is European solidarity and it is a small effort that prevents greater evils. It is efficiency because it is proving its usefulness, and it is common sense”, he stressed.
For her part, the general secretary of the PP, Cuca Gamarra, asked the Government to rectify and make changes to the energy saving decree, so that the contents are separated, in order to change the vote against: "On the one hand, energy measures and, on the other, aid for public transport or scholarships", which are also included in the plan. Gamarra considered that the decree is an imposition, since the Government "has not spoken with anyone, neither with the autonomous communities, nor with affected sectors, nor with the main opposition party," he lamented despite the meetings held by the Teresa Ribera's team with autonomous communities, companies, consumers and political groups throughout the summer.
The validation of the Royal Decree It arrives before the main course of the energy roadmap that the Government has to draw to meet the demands set by Brussels. This is the contingency plan that not only has to include more saving measures, but also specific details to deal with and help other European countries in the event that Russia cuts off the gas tap.
The third vice president and minister for the Energy Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, recognized this Wednesday that this plan is "the most important document" because the measures put in place in August "are urgent" to eliminate "redundant consumption, such as illuminate when not needed.” The objective, he stressed, is to “preserve that the industry can continue producing”, as well as “comfort in homes and help European partners” that are in a worse energy situation, such as Germany.
The Government has asked the autonomous communities and municipalities to send their proposals before August 31, given that the contingency plan has to be presented in September. At the moment, the PP has not revealed what would be the proposals, for short-term savings, proposed by its local and regional administrations. In parallel, Germany has given the green light to measures similar to those implemented by Spain, such as limiting the heating temperature to 19 degrees or turning off the lights in public buildings at night.
In addition, the validation of the Royal Decree comes in full swing of electricity prices in Europe. This Thursday, the price of electricity in Spain has taken a break, with a drop of more than 12% compared to Wednesday. Even so, it is at its highest since March and despite the application of the gas cap, which has cushioned the impact of the cost of this raw material on the electricity bill of those who have a regulated rate. Since the gas cap was put in place, the so-called 'Iberian solution' has resulted in savings for these consumers of almost 19%, according to data compiled by elDiario.es
In France, Germany and Italy the cost for three days is close to or exceeds 600 euros per MWh, while in Spain we are at 382 euros/MWh.
