MADRID, 20 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has questioned this Thursday from Brussels the “disappointing” execution of European funds and the “Iberian exception” that Pedro Sánchez has promoted and that, in his opinion, is “proving very expensive” to the Spanish because they are “financing French consumers”.
Speaking to the media, before attending the summit of EPP leaders that is traditionally held before the European Council, he reported that European funds, the energy crisis and inflation were the main issues discussed this Wednesday at the meeting that he had with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Feijóo, who thanked Von der Leyen for receiving him for a “long” meeting that lasted an hour and a half, explained that he passed on the PP’s proposals on energy matters, such as creating “an independent energy authority” in Spain or that “ideology” be reduced and “technology” increased in energy decisions, after the reduction of the “energy mix that the Government has decided” by Pedro Sánchez.
“We are the only country in the EU that has closed all its thermal power plants,” he complained, adding that it is also a “serious mistake” to put a “date of death on nuclear power plants.” In addition, he has been in favor of the electricity bonus for vulnerable families with few resources but has blamed the Government for forgetting the Spanish industry.
As for the ‘Iberian exception’, he has asked to wait to see what the European Council says, but has stressed that for now he has not seen any declaration from the EU in favor of its expansion to the entire EU. “The Iberian exception is very expensive for us because we are financing French consumers,” he asserted.
Likewise, the head of the opposition has requested from Brussels “to change the policy of European funds” because “as it has been carried out to date, it has been disappointing due to the low execution”. “We are in the environment of 20%”, he added, to underline that this money does not go to the companies nor is there “co-governance” with the Autonomous Communities. In his opinion, the impact on the economy of that European money is “disappointing” and shows that the Government “clearly suspends execution.”
In addition, he has pointed out that the dismissal of the general director of funds shows that he has been the “scapegoat” for the lack of criteria and professionalism in this matter on the part of his superiors in the Ministry. “You always have to look for someone to make him guilty,” she exclaimed.
In terms of inflation, he stressed that underlying inflation in Spain is “two points above the EU average” and has made the Government ugly by not returning to citizens what they are overpaying through personal income tax when it may have an extra collection of 32,000 million at the end of the year. For this reason, he has advanced that he will defend before the PPE deflating the personal income tax rate and reducing VAT on basic products in the shopping basket because the CPI in this case “has increased by 14.4%”.
After emphasizing that Spain is the “bottom country in the recovery of economic growth”, Feijóo has stressed that the Government has presented some General State Budgets that have been “denied” within a few hours by several national and international organizations.
