“What the PSOE and Sumar did is totally inexplicable.” Parliamentary sources consulted by elEconomista.es, among other parties that support the coalition government, summarize in sentences like this An unexpected budget pact signed Monday evening by the teams led by Pedro Sánchez and Yolanda Díaz. Neither ERC, nor Bildu nor Podemos, on the left, nor PNV or Junts on the right, show any willingness to support the agreement, in the hypothetical case that it is presented to the Congress of Deputies.
Already Serious discrepancies appear both on the content of the document and on the way in which it was closed.while the deadline for submitting amendments to the law that promotes the new tax reform was completely closed.
Regarding disagreements on content, Esquerra, Podemos and Bildu emphasize that they will not support any text excluding the maintenance of the tariff for energy companiesapproved due to the inflationary crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. And although Sumar leaves the door open to maintaining sanctions against this type of companies, according to its spokespersons, the truth is that, black and white, the text agreed with the socialists does not at any time refer to this possibility, which is deeply irritating to the rest of the left-wing parties.
Model extended to Euskadi
The content of the agreement also displeases the PNVparticularly with regard to the removal of tax exemptions for private health insurance. “We are not going to go this way,” said Aitor Esteban, spokesperson for the nationalist party in the Congress of Deputies, because “in the Basque Country it is a very widespread model.”
For Junts, friction is also inevitable, precisely at this precise stage. It is enough to recall that the independence party emphasized, at the end of last month, that in its fiscal pact concluded with the PSOE, it had obtained remove the same tax penalty for private health insurance who has now recovered.
Precisely, this type of amendments and unexpected changes, compared to the agreement concluded in October, are one of the aspects that most disturbs the parliamentary sources consulted among the nationalist parties. “What is so inconvenient about the agreement already signed that they are ignoring all established procedures in terms of presenting amendments to Congress?”
From his point of view, The explanation lies in “the fact that Sumar did not do his homework by presenting the amendments on time”. and the form, that is to say before the closing of the deadline fixed in Congress. ” Therefore, what is predictable is that the party led by Yolanda Díaz “overacts as it is doing now.” During these days, “we will see similar actions in Esquerra or Bildu…”, as these spokespersons predict.
Meaningless agreements
In this same line“We see deals that will lead nowhere,” Aitor Esteban told the Lower House. a day after suspending the commission charged with debating the law due to lack of parliamentary support. A situation which, in the opinion of the PNV spokesperson, causes a feeling of “absolute” legal insecurity.
In this sense, the spokesperson rejected the fact that the bill is a tax reform, since its main objective is to implement the new global minimum tax, and criticized the fact that different parties make the norm a “mixture” of ideological issues. He then stressed that the ideal would be to find a “common denominator” to reach an agreement.
Díaz supports tax on energy companies
Sumar criticized the PSOE for giving priority to the PNV and the Junts in the negotiations on tax reform which includes a new tax on banks, while ensuring that they have not waived the extraordinary tax on energy companies.
This is what the secretary general of the Sumar parliamentary group in Congress, Txema Guijarro, and the group’s deputy spokesperson in the Lower House, Aina Vidal, spoke after the two government partners reached a tax agreement that does not did not expressly mention this tax on energy companies.
Although the energy tax is not included in this agreement, Txema Guijarro explained that Sumar keeps alive an amendment that refers to this issueand the idea is to fight it to get enough support in Congress. The continuity of the tax on energy companies is a condition of ERC, Bildu and Podemos to support the law. For its part, the PNV considers the differences with the left bloc – Sumar, Esquerra Republicana (ERC), EH Bildu and Podemos – to perpetuate the tax on energy companies.
“We will continue to work to try to get this amendment approved when it is discussed in committee and otherwise in plenary,” Guijarro said. Subsequently, Aina Vidal was direct: “We have given up absolutely nothing and that is why we are maintaining our amendment.”
Guijarro criticized the fact that the PSOE started negotiations on this tax packagewhich includes new taxes on vapers or tourist apartments, with PNV and Junts.
