Not long ago, in this same legislature, it was loudly touted, with the well-worn electoral slogan that "we are not going to leave anyone behind", that the problems of the high cost of energy that a large part of our society had been suffering and that affected the most vulnerable more harshly were going to be solved.
Energy poverty was fully entering the political agenda and that is something we applaud. For our party it has always been and is a priority although, it is true, we have not made it as explicit as others.
But the reality today is much worse than before and not at all flattering. You simply have to look at the statistics and see the data. If before the bill was exorbitant and exclusionary, now it is 4 times more, even putting at risk the economic viability of the productive sector that, in some cases, finds it more advantageous to stop before having activity at these prices.
Leaving aside the excessively complex system of the social bonus, which in its spirit is positive but in practice turns out to be excessively complex and generates disincentives in a part of society in what has been called the traps of poverty, the only thing that the State Government does is to look for cosmetic measures with uncertain implications such as the one they intend to carry out with the electric companies that can only lead to further enlarging the problems. Even its own government partner, the PNV, has had no choice but to warn of the nonsense of its partners.
It is obvious to everyone that Spain has one of its great handicaps in the energy dependence of third countries and that during the entire Sánchez Government no measures have been taken in this regard.
All that is seen is that he seeks to buy time by looking for culprits and squeezing populist measures to the maximum that only harm the general interest that he claims to defend so much.
The sad thing about all this is that, in a way, this is the usual tonic. He does the same with the housing problem and the same with depopulation. In the end, the only thing that is sought is to buy time, gain media impact and confront. In this he is a master.
From the Popular Party we are aware that the obligation of the public authorities, without discouraging private activity but quite the opposite, is to regulate, improve or correct market failures, in order to correctly dispose of goods and defend the general interest.
For this, obviously, measures must be taken. First of all, we must close the gap of external energy dependence, assuming that we must tend towards energy self-sufficiency. But imminently, in order not to lose competitiveness and lose more jobs, we must reduce taxes on electricity. Only in this way can we lower costs in the short term.
Simply say that although our proposal may be criticized for reducing the much needed public revenues, the truth is that the benefit of the decrease in energy costs for the general accounts, in relation to the incentive of activity and job protection, are clearly higher than the collection of more that can be obtained. And even more so before a government that does not succeed in where to adequately invest public funds to have a leverage effect and remains in mere direct subsidy measures but with zero multiplier effect.
Jacobo Medina
Vice President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and insular secretary of the PP
