With the start of the conflict in the Middle East, the Government approved a first package of measures to contain the economic consequences of the war, especially due to the rise in energy prices and some inputs, especially hydrocarbons due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. That decree law contained temporary limitations and some of the measures already fell at the end of June. For this reason, the Plenary of Congress will debate and vote in an extraordinary session this Thursday on the new decree, which includes fiscal aid to face the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East, such as the extension of aid for fuel and the progressive elimination of the tax on energy production, a demand presented by the PP and Junts.
The reactivation of the conflict and tensions in energy prices have forced the Executive to approve a second fiscal package in the Council of Ministers, but now it must be ratified by Congress, which has to decide whether to validate or repeal it. Indirect and direct measures have been included in this new package, such as the reduction of the special tax on hydrocarbons, which represents a reduction of 15 cents/liter, in July; 10 cents, in August; and 5 cents, in September, although the VAT reduction to 10% on fuel, which had been included in the first package of anti-crisis measures, declines. The Government has included an automatic clause, back to 20 cents per liter of support, in case the conflict festers and fuel inflation shoots up again.
As confirmed by Economy sources, the evolution with respect to the CPI of the previous year will be reviewed every month, “constantly”, and in the case of variations that indicate that it is above 15%, “the reductions for both electricity and gas will be activated again based on that result” and the review clause for diesel, gasoline, gas and electricity will be reactivated. In addition to households, professionals and the self-employed will also be able to benefit from a discount of 20 cents/liter on fuel in the case of the primary sector and the transport sector. In the case of agriculture, an additional 165 million euros of aid for the purchase of fertilizers are added to the 500 that were already available.
Regarding energy taxation, the rule develops the progressive structural elimination of the tax on the production of electrical energy, a demand that PP and Junts have repeatedly demanded this legislature. The disappearance of this tax will be done by adjusting the rates progressively. The tax had a rate of 7% this year 2026. In the two remaining quarters that rate will be around 5%, in 2027 it will be around 3.5% and in 2028 it will disappear. According to Government calculations, the elimination of this tax will allow the industry to increase its production by 2.6 billion euros annually and create around 3,700 jobs.
The decree also has important limitations, since the CNMC will launch a system to monitor the gross margins of all service stations to control that they comply with the measures established in the decree law. However, the Government has only detected anomalous behavior at 52 service stations to date.
In labor matters, the Ministry of Labor has introduced in the final text that the conditions for companies benefiting from aid be extended, maintaining the requirement for a Sustainable Mobility Plan for workers and the prohibition of dismissal for reasons derived from the conflict for companies benefiting from aid linked to the war. Also that flexibility be activated for the deployment of Recovery Plan funds and allow investments to be made beyond the deadline at the end of August for those milestones that have been met but for which the investments have not yet been completed.
These new measures will be valid for three months and will have an additional cost of 1,825 million in fiscal budgetary terms for the year 2026, to which another 2,700 million would have to be added from the decrease in collection for 2027 and 2028 that this progressive elimination of the production tax entails.