Moncloa ignores the criticism that has come out of United We Can regarding the commitment to increase defense spending that Pedro Sánchez reiterated this Monday in an interview on La Sexta. Until now, the Government had defended reaching 1.24% of GDP in 2024 and now places it at 2% -as agreed within NATO-, although it does not establish a specific date. That position is rejected by the minority partner of the coalition as well as other allies of the investiture, but from Moncloa they ignore that position. “The strength lies in the union, in acting within the European framework and context, being loyal to our commitments in NATO and in giving a forceful response to Putin so that the aggression ceases and peace in Ukraine is restored as soon as possible”, The spokeswoman, Isabel Rodríguez, has limited herself to saying.
Sánchez reaches a minimum agreement with the regional presidents and promises the PP tax reductions without specifying
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The minister has left in the scope of the meetings that the Government is going to hold with the political groups to seek a common position in the response to the war the different positions that the partners of the Executive can make. “All the political groups are going to have the opportunity to participate in these meetings,” Rodríguez expressed about the meetings that the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, and the Vice Presidents Nadia Calviño, Yolanda Díaz and Teresa Ribera are going to hold in the coming days with the parliamentary groups, including the socialist and the confederal, and that will begin this Wednesday with the PP.
“The position of the Government is unique and is manifested in the Council of Ministers”, the spokeswoman added later without going off the script. “Political formations can express their nuances,” she added. In Moncloa they avoid commenting on the differences expressed by United We Can -even in the environment of the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz- regarding Sánchez’s emphasis on increasing military spending. “There is going to be a unique position on the part of the Government, as it cannot be otherwise”, point out government sources about the proposals of the response plan to the war. They don’t move from there.
Sánchez seeks allies to decouple gas from the price of electricity
What they have also done from the Executive is a call for the PP to join a great agreement “given the importance” of the situation. “We believe that the agreement is going to happen. The situation is unprecedented, historical, and not being in this agreement I think it would be a historical error, “said the spokeswoman. The Government seeks a great understanding for the package of measures that it intends to approve on March 29 and for this it has convened the parties and also a sectoral conference of the economic areas of the Government with the communities after reaching a minimum agreement with the regional presidents . In a national key, the Executive will also seek the connivance of the social agents.
Sánchez, for his part, will begin a tour in the coming days that will take him to meet with leaders from eight countries to seek allies for his proposal to decouple gas from energy prices, which is his main tool to stop the escalation. of energy prices. The first meeting will be with the Croatian prime minister in Madrid and then the president will travel to Slovakia. Also to Romania and Italy -where he will coincide with Mario Draghi but also his counterparts from Portugal and Greece, who will participate by videoconference, to confront the countries of the south together-. He will also visit Germany, less prone to such a proposal, and Ireland.
The Government sees its proposal more useful than lowering taxes
Despite Sánchez’s commitment to the regional leaders to carry out tax cuts to stop the escalation of prices, the Government maintains that it is not the most effective tool and has as a priority to achieve in the EU a decoupling of gas in the electricity bill. electricity. “We trust more in these decisions than in everything we can do in the fiscal field,” Rodríguez acknowledged, recalling that tax reductions have already been carried out -in the VAT on electricity or with the suspension of the production tax – and the increase in the price of energy “up to 500%” has been maintained.
“As much as we lower the tax table, if the cost of energy continues to rise, we will not be achieving the necessary result”, he stated before insisting that “the sensible thing to do in any decision in the fiscal field seems to be to conclude those work of the European Council” that will meet on March 24 and 25.
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