The Permanent Deputation of the Congress of Deputies validated this Wednesday by 52 votes in favor and 11 abstentions the last royal decree-law approved to adopt and extend certain measures in response to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine, among them, the VAT reduction on food or discounts for the use of public transport.
The Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños, defended their approval by assuring that these measures seek "the protection of citizens" after the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine, the extension of measures to help those affected by the La Palma volcano and introduce the right to be forgotten oncology. This is a package of measures estimated at 3,800 million euros in addition to what the Government had invested up to now.
Despite the fact that this decree has not obtained any vote against, PP, PNV, Vox and Ciudadanos -the latter two abstained- criticized the way in which the Government has carried out its validation because "it avoids the parliamentary debate on matters of interest ” and for dealing with matters that “are not urgent or do not have an extraordinary nature”.
“This decree affects 55 different matters, repeals one law, modifies another 47 and transposes five European directives. They force us to vote en bloc without being able to go into detail about what they ask us to validate. However, we will vote in favor because we do not want to jeopardize some positive, albeit insufficient, measures," criticized popular deputy Jaime de Olano.
For his part, Vox deputy José María Figaredo called it "intolerable" that the government "doesn't provide technical reports on very important issues for the operation of the system." In addition, he pointed out that this decree was presented "interestingly during the electoral period", although it had some "necessary" measures.
In the same way, the deputy of the PNV Mikel Legarda regretted that the Executive "abuses this procedure to avoid the ordinary processing of a legislative initiative." The spokesperson for Citizens in Congress, Inés Arrimadas, accused the acting Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, of "using the Official State Gazette (BOE) for his own interests" and reproached him for not also incorporating a regulation for the law of the ALS.
The main measure of the package is the extension of the VAT reduction, which from July 1 to December 31 will maintain the reduction from 4% to 0% in the tax rate on bread, bread-making flour, milk, eggs , legumes, cereals, fruits, vegetables and vegetables, as well as the reduction of 10% to 5% in oil and pasta. Meat and fish are once again excluded from the tax cut.
The reductions will be in force until the end of the year, but, as in the previous royal decree-law, the Government has included an escape route in case prices return to "reasonable" levels before the end of the year. In this way, the VAT reduction will be reversed as of November 1 in the event that the interannual rate of core inflation for the month of September, published in October, is less than 5.5%.
The Government has also decided to extend the aid for the reduction of at least 50% of the public transport passes in those autonomies and municipalities that provide part of the financing. Thus, the State will subsidize 30% of the total cost, while the regional and local administrations will have to provide, at least, an additional 20%.
Likewise, the seventh package of measures to deal with the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine establishes a 15% deduction in Personal Income Tax (IRPF) for the purchase of a new electric vehicle or the installation of battery recharging systems for electric vehicles. This deduction will be applied during the next two years and will be for a maximum amount of 20,000 euros, as long as the decree is validated.
On the other hand, the entry into force of the right to Social Security contributions for scholarship holders is delayed until January 1, as well as the prohibition of dismissal in companies receiving public aid derived from the war. The royal decree-law also includes the transposition of community directives, such as mobility - in relation to cross-border transformations, mergers and splits - and the modification of the law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing.
In terms of housing, the decree extends until the end of the year the ban on evictions of vulnerable households without a housing alternative, and puts an end to the automatic extension of all completed rental contracts.
