- Government delegate, Denis Itxaso: “The Spanish Government complies with Euskadi, with the Basque Government and with parliamentary groups”
- The Basque Government has received 1,422 million euros for investments from the Next Generation European Funds, of which 58.5% have gone to the Basque Government to manage matters of its competence and the remaining 41.5% have been executed directly by the State
- 104,600 citizens of the Basque Country have benefited from the free purchase of Renfe bonds in the vicinity and half distance
- Almost 650 million euros have been allocated to the autonomous community since April 2020 to cover workers in ERTE to cushion the effects caused by the health crisis
- 2,276 SMEs have received the support of the Digital Kit program to implement digital solutions
- The pensions of 516,302 Basques have been revalued under the CPI in 2022 and the salaries of 117,000 employees and public employees have been improved
The delegate of the Government in the Basque Country, Denis Itxaso, has today presented the fifth edition of the Complying Report, in which the accountability of the work carried out by the Government of Spain in the Basque Country until December 31 is recorded. “The Government of Spain complies with the Basque Country, with the Basque Government and with the parliamentary groups,” Itxaso stressed during the presentation. Among the main initiatives outlined by the delegate, the Government has already allocated 1,422 million euros of European funds from the Recovery Plan to Euskadi to support the transformation of the Basque economy, of which 58.5% (838 million) have been allocated to the Basque Government to manage matters within its competence and the remaining 41.5% (548 million) have been executed directly by the State through ministerial calls. The Complying Report responds to the commitment made by the Executive to be accountable to the citizens on the progress of government action on a regular and systematic basis. The document analyzes and quantifies, among other things, the measures and commitments undertaken by the Government of Spain to alleviate as much as possible the economic and social consequences of a year marked by the crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine, among other issues.
The government’s effort to improve working and contracting conditions has resulted in the good figures with which the Basque labour market has closed the year, according to Itxaso. “A record year has ended despite war, inflation and economic slowdown. Social Security is home to a million members and there have never been so many employed or signed so many indefinite contracts: 200,000, 25% of the total. The entry into force of the labor reform has contributed to these numbers.” In this sense, during 2022, almost 200,000 indefinite contracts have been signed, compared to 80,545 in 2021 when the labor reform had not been approved.
On the other hand, almost 209,000 people have benefited from the ERTE formula since it was launched in April 2020 until December 2022 for an amount of 648.2 million euros.
Itxaso has also highlighted during this accountability the National Plan of Response to the Consequences of the War in Ukraine developed by the Government in several phases so far. Among other measures, this plan guarantees this year:
- To extend the free use of conventional Short Distance and Medium Distance tickets, 50% discounts on Avant tickets, 30% discount on multi-trip tickets and tickets for local or regional public transport, as well as 50% reduction in the bus price for recurring users between 1 September and 31 December 2022. In the case of the Basque Country, 104,627 people have benefited from the gratuitousness of Renfe’s subscriptions for Neighbourhoods and half distance from 1 September to 31 December last year.
- Measures have also been put in place to protect the vulnerable population, such as the aid of 200 euros for households with incomes below 14,000 euros and, recently, the approval of a new aid package that includes a new line of 200 euros for households with incomes below 27,000 euros or the reduction of VAT on basic foodstuffs from 4% to 0%.
- Measures to mitigate the impact of inflation also include direct aid for the most affected sectors, such as carriers, farmers, fishermen or the gas-intensive industry.
Also as a result of the war in Ukraine, the Government put in place the temporary protection of Ukrainian citizens to ensure their well-being and meet their needs, both those who are in Spain and those who may arrive fleeing the war. The Basque Country has already processed and granted temporary protection to a total of 3,925 Ukrainian citizens displaced by the war in their country, most of them women. Since March, 2,519 Ukrainians have registered in the autonomous community. In addition, the Government allocates 2.1 million euros to the Basque Country for displaced Ukrainians who are outside the reception system through a direct aid of 400 euros per month per family. The Government has also granted 1.2 million euros to the Basque Government to promote and encourage better attention to the needs
the basic needs of people displaced by the conflict in Ukraine.
PERTEs
Denis Itxaso highlighted during the presentation of Complying with the 1,422 million euros that the Basque Country has already received from the European funds Next Generation and that will boost the economic development of the community. “These funds are the basis of the new great economic modernization. They will promote the green and digital reindustrialization of our country assuming a change of productive model and the improvement of human capital.”
Of the 1,422 million euros, 838 have been for the Basque Government for areas of its competence, such as housing, sustainable mobility, promotion of renewable energies, education and professional training, restoration of ecosystems, renovation of public buildings, inclusion and social services. The rest (425 million) have been executed by the State itself through calls for State aid launched by the different ministries and resolved in the Basque Country.
In addition, EUR 425.5 million has been allocated from the OBJECTIVE-EU funds to finance the necessary expenditure to respond to the pandemic, as well as to strengthen the welfare state and public services.
Throughout the year, the Government Delegation in the Basque Country has promoted an informative and informative dynamic to explain to the economic fabric the calendar and mode of access of the European funds managed by the different ministries. Thus, six technical working days have been developed to present to the different productive sectors the details and characteristics of the aid collected in the PERTEs of the electric and connected vehicle, of the agri-food sector, of renewable energies, of avant-garde health, of the naval sector, of the circular economy, and of the New Language Economy.
Four Basque companies have received €235 million from the Electric and Connected Vehicle PERTE for their projects towards electrification of mobility. Within the framework of the PERTE de Salud de Vanguardia several private companies and public organizations have received about 10 million euros, among which 4.5 million must be highlighted to finance the Akribea and Brem projects for the implementation of personalized medicine (the CIC Biogune, the University of Mondragon or the Basque Biobank participate). And two million euros have been allocated to the University of the Basque Country to promote language technologies within the framework of the PERTE New Language Economy.
From now on, the most relevant items are broken down, which include aid from European funds:
Dynamization and economic momentum
Euskadi has received 33.9 million euros corresponding to the extraordinary call for proposals for the Destination Tourism Sustainability Plans 2022 program; 11.4 million euros for investment “Digital transformation and modernization of the Autonomous Communities and 2,276 SMEs have benefited from the Digital Kit Program.
An agreement has been reached on the methodology for calculating the Basque Country quota for the quinquennium 2022-2026 within the Mixed Commission of the Economic Concert. The provisional liquid quota for 2022 has also been set at 1,467.0 million euros
Social cohesion
In the chapter of social cohesion, 47,402 Basques and Basques have received the Minimum Vital Income: 31,412 adults and 15,990 minors. And 516,302 pensioners have benefited from the revaluation of pensions under the CPI in 2022. In addition, 50,287 people have benefited from the thermal social bond with a budget of 21.2 million euros by 2022.
On the other hand, 22,766 people have had the maternity supplement and/or the supplement to reduce the gender gap in pensions. Almost 117,000 public employees have benefited from a 2% pay increase to which 1.5% is added to alleviate the effects of purchasing power caused by inflation.
EUR 39.7 million has been granted to fund care policy projects in three lines: long-term care, social services and universal accessibility. Another 135.2 million euros have been agreed for the care of dependent people. EUR 20.4 million has also been dedicated to the promotion of the Vocational Training modernisation plan: 4.3 million for the creation of new places, 4.5 for bilingual places, 10.6 for accrediting competences and 0.7 for the conversion of classrooms into spaces of applied technology.
Territorial cohesion
In the area of territorial cohesion, in the area of high railway speed, the Government continues to develop various railway investments, among which stand out the 27.5 million euros for the contract of works of track and electrification to transform the intermodal terminal and logistics of Jundiz. Another 26.7 went for the basic project and construction of the new high-speed line between Burgos and Vitoria. On the other hand, the works of the new high-speed train station in Irun have been awarded for 65 million euros.
The works for the construction of the alternative drive of the Bajo del Añarbe Canal have also been listed with an investment of 36.3 million euros and the improvement works of the Galindo treatment plant have been awarded for 32.3 million euros.
And 14 projects of energy communities in the Basque Country received 5.27 million euros
Ecological transition and innovation support
In ecological transition, the autonomous community has received, among other grants, 37.2 million euros for self-consumption and storage programs with renewable energy sources. And in support of innovation, another 89 from the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) to finance 150 projects. 98.5 million euros from the State Research Agency have been directed to the generation of scientific knowledge and quality research.
EUR 37.9 million in aid will make it possible to offset CO2 emissions and EUR 42.1 million will be allocated to the creation or operation of low-emission zones in metropolitan areas. And nine million have been allocated to the adaptation to the risk of flooding and digitization of the water cycle.
For rural development and agri-food programmes, the Basque Country has received 28.9 million euros.
Promotion of culture and sport
In the cultural field, 13,943 applications have been received for the Young Cultural Bonus, which is an allocation of 400 euros per beneficiary. 64.7% of the young potential beneficiaries in the Basque Country have requested it.
Meanwhile, one million euros have been resolved in the second half of the year for exhibition halls, the publishing industry and the promotion of reading in municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants.
A further EUR 4.1 million has been earmarked for cultural accelerators; expansion of cultural offerings in non-urban areas; restoration of cultural heritage; modernisation of performing arts infrastructures; and digitisation of heritage inventory.