- Denis Itxaso presents the result in terms of welfare of the policies of the Central Government in the Basque Country
- The Government delegate has broken down the data of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan
The government delegate has presented the updated data corresponding to the year 2023 of the investment of the Government of Spain in the Basque Country. The figures offered by Denis Itxaso make up both the socio-economic balance and the execution of the European Funds that are helping to consolidate and boost the Basque economy despite the threats posed by the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“The most vulnerable Basque groups, the main beneficiaries of the government’s policies”, Denis Itxaso summed up in the presentation of this balance sheet for the year 2023 carried out in the subdelegation of Bizkaia. “The data show that the measures adopted favor the citizens, who are the ones who have to be targeted,” he said.
The government delegate also took advantage of the meeting before the media to update the figures of the European Funds that are helping the Basque Country to protect and boost its economy. As of December 2023, 2,846 million euros have arrived in the Basque Country, an important injection of money to consolidate the competitiveness of Basque companies.
The economy is moving strongly in the right direction and citizens are already clearly perceiving the benefits provided by the measures taken by the Government in socio-economic matters. Thus, there are objective indicators that reflect the positive aspects of the economic and social policy implemented by this Government.
Thus, the average retirement pension in the Basque Country stands at 1,740 euros per month. This figure is 372 euros higher than the average for 2018. Work is another factor that has been clearly favored by the action of the progressive Executive. The indefinite contracts in the Basque Country total 186,492 people, no less than 122% more than in 2019. And affiliation to Social Security rises to 1,012,947 employed, that is, 50,843 people employed more than in 2018.
There are other indicators to take into account in social work. Nearly 50,000 Basques have improved their standard of living with the latest increase in the Interprofessional Minimum Wage to 1,134 euros per month (14 payments). In the Basque Country there are 67,573 beneficiaries of the Minimum Vital Income, 61,374 people who receive the Electricity Social Bonus and 99,000 who have used free transport subscriptions throughout the month just ended.
As for the arrival of European Funds in the Basque Country, the data speak that from 2021 and until the end of December 2023, the Basque Country has received 2,846 million euros from the NEXT GENERATION EU-Funds. Of these, EUR 425 million comes from the REACT/EU Fund and EUR 2.42 billion from the Recovery Plan, of which EUR 1.154 billion has been received through transfers at the Sectoral Conference, agreements and direct concessions agreed with the Basque Government. In addition, through direct execution actions of the General Administration of the State, more than 14,500 projects with 1,265 million euros of aid are being executed in the Basque Country.
Emblematic performances
· Railway infrastructure. The Government of Spain is carrying out an extraordinary investment in railway infrastructure in the Basque Country, responding to long-claimed actions, with a total investment of more than 250 million euros.
· Industry. The industrial sector of the Basque Country is having an active participation in all the PERTE: ERHA, VEC, Aerospace, Naval, Circular Economy, Agro and SMEs.
· Direct execution of the AGE. Through competitive calls and tenders and other actions managed by AGE agencies, the Basque Country has received 1,265 million euros in areas such as: Infrastructure Development, Energy (Renewable Hydrogen, Biogas, Energy Communities), Urban and Building Rehabilitation, Industry and SMEs (Automotive, Aerospace, Naval, Logistics, Agri-Food, Circular Economy, Support for Climate and Digital Transformation of SMEs), Support for Sustainable Mobility and Air Quality Improvement, Demographic Challenge, Just Transition, Science and Digitalization, Water, Euskera, Social Inclusion, Trade and Tourism, Fisheries, Third Sector and Social Economy.
· Actions carried out by the Basque Country. The Basque Country has received 1.154 billion euros through the funds transferred in Sectoral Conferences and Direct Concessions agreed between the AGE and the CCAA. This money has been allocated, among other things, to Energy rehabilitation in residential environments, Neighborhood rehabilitation, Construction of social housing, Rehabilitation of public buildings, Zones of Low Emissions of Competition CCAA, Modernization of high-tech sanitary equipment, Science, Education and FP, Direct awards and unique projects, MOVES III, Self-consumption, Thermal Renewables, Residential and Storage or Tourism Actions.