The Spanish Council of Ministers has approved on Tuesday a new addendum, expected to be the final one, to the Recovery Plan, for the final stretch of European funds that ends next year. The new addendum also removes some key milestones that the Government had been stuck with since the start of the plan, aiming for Spain to be able to take advantage of 100% of the assigned transfers. The European Commission has rejected removing this milestone, so Spain will have to approve it if it wants to receive the full amount of the transfers. The new addendum includes the modification or elimination of at least 100 milestones of the plan. Although the Government renounces the bulk of the loans, these financial instruments will remain active, but with national funding. The Ministry of Economy has announced an initial allocation of 13 billion euros to the Official Credit Institute (ICO) to keep alive some of the projects that were initially intended to be financed with European funds. Specifically, the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, has pointed out two: the approval of the Land Law (blocked by Congress) and the creation of the Financial Customer Authority. The Minister has pointed out that one of the advantages of this change is that national funding avoids the bureaucratic and legal procedures established by the Commission (it gives Spain more flexibility) and allows its extension beyond 2026. The objective is to maintain the investment momentum and financing for the productive fabric supported by national resources, taking advantage of the reduction in Spain's risk premium. Cuerpo has explained that the new addendum to the Recovery Plan has three fundamental objectives. The first is the "simplification of the administrative burden". The second is the "reinforcement of new investments, such as the energy plan". That is, it will request some 22.8 billion euros, a little more than 27% of the credits that Spain had been assigned. These loans that Spain is renouncing will be compensated with national funding provided by the Public Treasury. The Government ends the EU funds 'manna': who will now drive public investment. Most of these changes are technical to eliminate some requirements that hindered the operational capacity of European funds. The Executive tried to approve this commitment a year ago, but Congress rejected it again. The third is the "maintenance of the degree of ambition of the plan". In the case of the Land Law, this milestone is replaced by the creation (already completed) of the new public housing company (Sepes). The Government is renouncing 60.2 billion euros in loans to focus on the nearly 25 billion in transfers assigned to Spain. These loans will be compensated with national funding from the Public Treasury. The Executive is going to renounce part of the loans and is working on an addendum that will include investments directly financed by the Treasury, taking advantage of the fall in financing costs. What the Government has not been able to do is eliminate one of the milestones that is causing it the most problems: the increase in the diesel tax to equalize it with gasoline. The new text renounces 60.2 billion euros in loans to focus on the almost 25 billion in transfers assigned to Spain. These loans will be compensated with national funding from the Public Treasury, taking advantage of the reduction in financial costs. The Government is renouncing part of the loans and is working on an addendum that will include investments directly financed by the Treasury, taking advantage of the fall in financing costs. What the Government has not been able to do is eliminate one of the milestones that is causing it the most problems: the increase in the diesel tax to equalize it with gasoline. [News under development] Source: El Confidencial
