The Government negotiates with the European Commission the increase for future calls of the maximum threshold Compensatory aid to industry for CO2 emission costs, as announced by the Minister of Industry, Reyes Maroto. This type of compensation They were previously increased to 244 million euros.
The head of the department, who revealed a week ago that a package of additional measures is being studied to reinforce the assistance to the electro-intensive industry due to the high costs of energy, stated that the objective of the Spanish Government is that this plan, aimed at protecting large consumers (in the case of “the steel industry”, he specified) has the character of a “European response” and not only a national one, due to the “extraordinary” condition of the situation, the use of energy as a weapon of war for Russia and the concern of “all industrial sectors, and “especially the steel sector”, due to the lack of control of gas and electricity prices on the continent.
Both initiatives will form part of the contingency plan proposal that the Spanish Government, like those of the remaining 26 countries of the European Union, must provide to the European Commission this month to deal with a possible total cancellation of energy supplies. Russians to the EU.
Currently, Spanish aid to the Spanish electro-intensive and gas-intensive industry (with great weight in the Asturian manufacturing fabric) totals 850 million euros through the temporary reduction of 85% of energy tolls for some 600 electro-intensive companies, a permanent bonus of 85% of receipt charges, suspension of the tax on the value of electricity production (which is levied at a tax rate of 7%), the reduction of the special electricity tax from 5.11% to 0.5% and the allocation of 200 million through the Spanish Reserve Fund for the Guarantee of Electrointensive Entities (FERGE) to cover risks arising from medium- and long-term energy purchase and sale operations (so-called PPA contracts).
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Maroto made these announcements during a meeting of the Steel Table, in which representatives of other ministries, autonomous communities and business associations participated. The meeting also discussed environmental regulation, the review of the emission rights trading system and the future border adjustment mechanism (tariff for imports that do not bear the cost of carbon emissions) and safeguard measures.
Maroto also shared the forthcoming launch by the Government of the PERTE (Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation) for decarbonization, which will co-finance investments with European funds to accelerate this process in industrial companies.