The director general of Transport and Mobility of the Government of the Canary Islands, María Fernández, has sent a letter to the secretary general of Air and Maritime Transport of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Benito Núñez, to demand the urgent convening of the Canary Islands-State Joint Commission and the updating of the costs that serve as a basis to compensate the transport of goods to the archipelago.
In the letter, the general director warns that the lack of updating of these costs since 2019 is rendering obsolete a key tool of the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF), which causes current aid not to reflect the real costs borne by companies that transport goods to the Canary Islands.
The Government of the Canary Islands has reminded that the maritime and air transport of goods towards the archipelago bears structural surcharges derived from remoteness and insularity, which are traditionally compensated through public aid.
Criticizes the increase in operating costs
The Canarian Executive has pointed out that "the current international context, marked by geopolitical conflicts, energy volatility and the increase in fuel prices, has significantly increased the operating costs". Added to this are war premiums, surcharges and the need to modify maritime routes to avoid risk zones, which implies more days of navigation and greater fuel consumption.
Fernández has insisted in the letter that “these increases are not reflected in the calculation of standard costs, which reduces the effectiveness of the compensation system and directly impacts the final price of consumer goods, construction materials and intermediate products that reach the islands”.
Likewise, the general director has stressed that “it is not about creating new aid, but about ensuring that the existing instrument works correctly and fulfills its purpose, to compensate for the structural surcharges of transport to the Canary Islands”.
In this regard, it recalls that the Government of the Canary Islands already requested in 2025 the convening of the Canary Islands-State Mixed Commission to complete the technical work on the updating of the calculation methodology for standard costs, without a new meeting having been held until now since July 2024.
The Government of the Canary Islands has highlighted that it is essential that the next meeting of the Canary Islands-State Joint Commission allows progress in the updating of the compensation system for freight transport and resolves the technical aspects that remain pending.
Among the priorities conveyed to the Ministry is to rethink the structure of the calculation of the new reference cost, with the aim of it reflecting with greater fidelity the real costs of transport to the archipelago. Likewise, the Executive proposes updating the different items that make up the standard costs and consolidating the costs that began to be incorporated in the last annuity, so that the system gains stability and coherence.
In the same way, the Canarian Government considers it necessary to integrate the remaining aid concepts that have not yet been fully incorporated into the model, as well as to define a sufficient financial sheet that guarantees the effectiveness of the compensation system.
Another of the key aspects is to have a reliable data history on transport operations, through the Government Delegation, that allows working with real information from the shipping companies that operate with the Canary Islands.
Ensure the Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands
Finally, the Canarian Executive insists that all these measures must be aimed at guaranteeing the effective compliance of the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF), an essential instrument to compensate the additional costs derived from the condition of outermost region of the archipelago.
Likewise, María Fernández has added that the Government of the Canary Islands considers that the update of the standard costs is essential to protect territorial cohesion, the supply of the archipelago, and the competitiveness of the Canarian economy.
Therefore, in the letter sent to the Ministry, the immediate convening of the Canary Islands-State Joint Commission is requested, with the aim of speeding up technical work and unblocking a situation that, according to Fernández, “is reducing the effectiveness of a strategic instrument for the islands”.
