The Council of Ministers, at its meeting today and on the proposal of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma), of Finance and Public Function and of Territorial Policy, has approved today a Royal Decree regulating compensation for the maritime and air transport of goods to and from Ceuta and Melilla.
It thus reduces the effective cost of freight transport between Ceuta and Melilla, between both and the Peninsula, as well as that carried out with other European Union member territories or signatories of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. They also add to those that are already in force for the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands.
50% compensation
The regulation approved today establishes a 50% compensation for the transport costs of the following goods:
- Products originating or processed in Ceuta or Melilla.
- Products originating in the European Union that are considered “inputs” for the production or transformation of those listed in the previous point, and are not manufactured in Ceuta or Melilla.
- Return of those stocks of goods from commercial SMEs of Ceuta or Melilla, subject to the retail regime, of those goods imported before the deadline of one year from the date of return.
Likewise, 50% of the maritime or air freight of dangerous goods with origin or destination Ceuta and Melilla and of waste originating from the autonomous cities, to be processed or recycled in the Peninsula will be compensated for not being able to carry out these operations in these autonomous cities.
The call for aid will be approved annually by resolution of the State Secretariat of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda of Mitma and the Government Delegations in Ceuta and Melilla will be responsible for the instruction, resolution and notification of the aid.
Compensation extension for Balearic Islands
Finally, through this Royal Decree, amendments have been introduced to Royal Decree 1034/1999, of 18 June, on compensation for the maritime and air transport of goods, with origin or destination in the Balearic Islands, to include the increase in the percentage of compensation for the transport of essential dangerous goods from the Balearic Islands to the Peninsula to 100% (from the current 65%).
Likewise, it is included among the goods whose transport is subject to subsidy (with a percentage of 60% of the freight), to the inter-island maritime or air transport of waste originating from the Balearic Islands, in cases where there are no plants to be processed or recycled on the island where they have been generated.
This Royal Decree complies with the constitutional principle of interterritorial solidarity and responds, for the first time in this field, to the structural conditions that affect Ceuta and Melilla, among which are the shortage of surface and basic resources, the isolation of the peninsula or the border situation, which can hinder the development of economic activity, the local productive fabric and, therefore, the quality of life of citizens.