The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, reached a minimum agreement with the regional presidents on the island of La Palma yesterday to respond to the problems posed for Spain by the war in Ukraine.
At a Conference of Presidents, which for the first time was attended by all of them in person, Sánchez put forward a series of proposals to the regional leaders to win their support and take a common position to Europe, in order to confront Vladimir Putin’s “energy blackmail”.
After a six-hour meeting, the chief executive reached an agreement, but had to listen to some of the presidents’ demands for more specific measures to be taken.
Sánchez assured that tax cuts would be approved for the sectors affected by the war in Ukraine and that he would review the fiscal rules to adapt them to the “new economic reality of the war”.
In addition, he made other proposals related to Ukrainian refugees and cybersecurity, among other aspects, and also announced that a first humanitarian aid package of 23 million euros would be sent to Ukraine.
The result of the debates was a Declaration of La Palma, with four axes, in which they express their unity in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and commit themselves to continue taking measures to alleviate the effects caused by this war.
In this declaration, among other things, they show their “support” for the Government in its position before the next European Council to take measures to achieve a reduction in energy prices.
“All Spanish institutions will work together to support this country’s position, which will benefit consumers and the most vulnerable sectors in the face of the impact of the energy crisis,” adds the declaration on this point, which is one of the four pillars of the text.
Another of the points that stands out in this declaration of La Palma is the one that talks about implementing the national plan of response to the consequences of the war in Ukraine in Spain.
“This plan will be open and dynamic, and will be shaped through dialogue that the government will develop with the autonomous communities, parliamentary forces and social agents, taking into account the most vulnerable groups”, reads this point.
In this context, the Government and all the regional presidents have agreed that the measures to be incorporated into the plan “will develop and intensify those already announced so far, such as tax reductions to cushion the impact of energy prices on the bills paid by families and companies and others that may be proposed”.
“The Government of Spain and the autonomous communities share the determination to protect our companies, our industry and our citizens,” the text states.
Likewise, the regional presidents are committed, together with Sánchez, to promoting the implementation of European funds, highlighting in this declaration that “they are now even more important, if possible, after the new economic scenario for Spain to continue growing and creating jobs”.
On this point, the declaration considers it “essential” to leave partisan discrepancies to one side and to “make the most” of the opportunity for European funds to “truly reach” all corners of Spain.
On the reception of Ukrainian refugees, the text speaks of coordinated management of this issue and, to this end, “means of financing will be made available to meet the costs incurred in this regard”.
However, although the majority of regional leaders agreed in valuing the agreement reached in the La Palma Declaration, some regional voices called for more specific measures to alleviate the economic effects of the war in Ukraine.
On this point, the president of the Xunta de Galicia, Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, made his debut as the future national leader of the PP, assuring that he expected “more” from this Conference of Presidents and, although he closed ranks on Ukraine, he insisted to Sánchez that he has to end up lowering taxes.
For her part, the position defended by the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, was to temporarily suspend taxes on electricity and gas or, at the very least, to consider a super-reduced VAT. She also proposed earmarking the budget of the Ministry of Equality for aid to families, something that was described as “frivolous” by the government.
Putin, to the International Criminal Court
On the other hand, Pedro Sánchez announced to the regional presidents that Spain will initiate proceedings before the International Criminal Court to open proceedings against Vladimir Putin for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He also insisted on the need to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs who are in our country, for which he asked for maximum collaboration in the exchange of information with the aim of applying these sanctions as effectively as possible.
