Madrid invokes the unconstitutionality of covid sanctions in the use of the energy decree

The Community of Madrid has already prepared the arguments that it will defend in the appeal of unconstitutionality that it has decided to present against the energy saving decree law approved by the Government and that will enter the Government tomorrow.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
09 August 2022 Tuesday 04:51
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Madrid invokes the unconstitutionality of covid sanctions in the use of the energy decree

The Community of Madrid has already prepared the arguments that it will defend in the appeal of unconstitutionality that it has decided to present against the energy saving decree law approved by the Government and that will enter the Government tomorrow. The main one, that it cannot be considered basic legislation, since the measures proposed by the European Union are not mandatory, and that the sanctioning regime may have legal flaws.

The resource, according to sources from the Community of Madrid, who insist that the decree will make the shop windows in Spain the only ones to go out tomorrow, states that the basic character alleged by the State "to invade regional powers declines because the objective of the Royal Decree Law (RDL) is not to guarantee the supply of gas, since the RDL itself states that Spain does not have this problem, so we consider that minimum or maximum temperatures for air conditioning and heating cannot be established."

Likewise, sources from the Madrid government stress that "this basic character is questionable because we are facing a European agreement that is not mandatory", so the Government could not invoke, so that the decree is mandatory, which is a European requirement .

Regarding the closing of the doors of the premises and work centers, the Community of Madrid considers that "it collides with the Public Health regulations issued on the occasion of the COVID-19 pandemic and that establishes the need for ventilation", and as soon as to the obligation to install posters, screens, etc. to report on energy saving measures, Madrid maintains that "it does not contribute directly to said energy saving, so it invades regional powers without justification.

The appeal that the Community of Madrid will present before the Constitutional Court underlines that "the extension of the prohibitions to renewable energies or self-consumption exceeds the necessary proportionality of the RDL", since if what is sought is gas savings, "why Is this type of lighting based on other energy sources prohibited?

For the Madrid government, the shutdown of shop windows at 10:00 p.m. "collides directly with the Law on Freedom of Business Hours of the Community of Madrid, which allows opening 24 hours a day." That is why he wonders "if that rule can be met with blacked-out shop windows."

The resource of the Community of Madrid considers that "the shutdown of public buildings would collide with the competence of the care and use of the buildings of the Community of Madrid and with tourism development" and the punctual advancement of the next energy efficiency inspection in facilities "could exceed the state bases, since the periodicity of these inspections is not basic".

For Madrid, there is a discrepancy between the expected duration of the measures between the European regulations -1 year- and that indicated in the Royal Decree Law, until October 2023.

The Madrid government also considers that "the faulty configuration of the sanctioning regime may lead to legal or constitutional defects in the sanctions that may be imposed, as happened in those derived from the states of alarm during COVID."