Eduardo González
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, defended yesterday before the plenary session of the Congress the measures and proposals presented by Spain to address the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, including the “Iberian solution, which the conservative bench called Iberian scam” and which, he assured, has received “the recognition of the European Commission” and even want to apply “many EU countries”.
“In the last State of the Nation Debate I addressed the House to explain the different energy scenarios that the Government contemplated due to the war in Ukraine,” said Sánchez before the plenary, in which he reported on the conclusions of the informal European Council of last October 7 and on the measures adopted in the face of the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
“I warned then that one of the risks we were facing, perhaps the worst of them, was that Putin would totally cut off gas to Europe,” and, at the moment, “the gas cut-off is today a reality,” he continued. “Putin has also used energy as a weapon against Europe in this war in Ukraine, and in the face of this threat, which has unfortunately become a reality, Spain has been preparing itself throughout these months on various fronts”, the head of the Executive assured.
Among the Government’s measures, apart from the Energy Saving Plan and the Contingency Plan, are the proposals presented to the rest of the EU partners, because “our continent is on the front line of the war in Europe” and because the response must be given “at a European level”, bearing in mind that “the energy market is a regulated market at a community level”.
“Within these European responses is the so-called Iberian solution”, a measure “that has already saved our consumers 2,800 million euros, 15%, and that many European governments are asking to apply in their countries”, he explained. “What’s more”, he assured, “the European Commission itself is already considering extending the Iberian solution to the European solution”, as demonstrated by its recent roadmap of reforms, which “incorporates measures such as the centralized purchase of gas, the reform of the electricity market and the extension to all of Europe of the cap on the price of gas that generates electricity; in other words, converting the Iberian solution into a European solution”.
“I believe that this Iberian solution, which the conservative bench called Iberian scam”, and the recognition by the European Commission and governments “of all political sign” regarding “the need to extend the Iberian solution” to the EU, “if it shows anything, it is the blindness and denial of the blindness and denial of the Iberian solution”, is the blindness and denialism of an opposition that has only dedicated itself during this legislature, first with the pandemic and now with the war, to harass and try to bring down the Government, and not to help their country in two of the most critical moments in the recent history of Spain”, he censured.
Ukraine
On the other hand, Sánchez assured that “the European unity, the solidarity deployed by Europe and also by its allies with Ukraine on all fronts – humanitarian, financial, military – and also the forcefulness of the economic sanctions against Putin’s oligarchy, allow us to affirm that Putin today is not winning the war, that Putin today is not fulfilling his war objectives”.
According to the president, “the threat of the use of nuclear weapons” by Vladimir Putin’s regime should not be “underestimated”, but it is necessary to “reject this blackmail”. Putin “has been overcome by the strength and heroism of the Ukrainian people and by the determination of Europe and its allies to defend the freedom of Ukraine,” he continued. “Spain and Europe want peace, and while that moment so desired by our societies arrives, we must continue to support the attacked against the aggressor,” he warned.
“We cannot choose the challenges we meet along the way, but we can choose how we respond to those challenges”, and, just as “during the pandemic Spain stood with science and, also, with multilateralism”, in Putin’s war in Ukraine, “Spain stands on the side of international legality, respect for national sovereignty, territorial integrity and the freedom of peoples to decide on their future”, he said.
PP and Unidas Podemos
During her speech, the PP parliamentary spokeswoman, Cuca Gamarra -who made no mention of the measures announced by Sánchez to try to alleviate the crisis-, accused the President of the Government of not “defending the welfare state” because this model is “defended with growth, generating virtuous and not vicious circles”. “He has already raised taxes 27 times and continues to ask for more,” she denounced. “It has over-collected 27,000 million, it is the most expensive government and continues to ask families for more sacrifices. Is that not enough?” she continued. The Government, “has lost the tax debate and has wanted to cheat the terms of the discussion,” she added.
According to Gamarra, Pedro Sánchez “has dusted off the class struggle in the Spain of the 21st century, but he has confused the adversary, it is not about ending wealth, but poverty.” “He does a disservice to social cohesion who promotes a discourse of polarization, promotes a policy that looks for culprits, but does not provide solutions. His rhetoric seeks to pit one against the other,” she concluded.
For his part, the spokesman of Unidas Podemos (minority partner in the coalition government), Pablo Echenique, asked Pedro Sánchez to defend during the next European Council the possibility of negotiating a cease-fire or some peace agreement to put an end to the war in Ukraine. “It does not seem that sanctions have bent the Russian economy,” he warned. “The longer the war goes on, the worse it will be for Ukraine and also for the European economies and for Spain,” he added.
Echenique congratulated the Government for its achievements regarding energy supply, which allow it to face this problem “much better than other European countries”, and for its “good work” regarding energy prices thanks to its commitment to “the Iberian exception”, but warned that this mechanism “is not enough” and asked it, therefore, to lead within the EU “an adequate reform of the electricity market so that it stops being the swindle it is today”.
