The PSD chairman accused the government on Friday of punishing the most vulnerable with the planned increases in the Single Circulation Tax (IUC) for older cars, arguing that this is “not the way” to accelerate the energy transition.
At the end of a conference of the European People’s Party (PPE) group on the European electricity market, which took place in Lisbon on Friday, Luís Montenegro stressed that Portugal cannot give up the goal of being “at the forefront of the energy transition”.
“But anyone who wants to mislead the country into thinking that this is done by taxing the movement of cars by people who don’t have newer cars just because they don’t have the money to buy them is clearly not the way to go. “he defended.
For the PSD leader, one thing is encouraging the auto industry with “more environmentally friendly practices.”
“Another is to punish those who do not have the means to obtain certain goods, by imposing an additional payment of taxes, with increases of up to 400% for a situation arising from their vulnerability, and punishing those who have already been punished”criticized.
This is a measure provided for in the 2024 state budget proposal and which changes the tax rules, in terms of IUC, for category A vehicles registered before 2007 and motorcycles (category E), providing that these are no longer taxed solely on the basis of engine power (as is currently the case), whereby the environmental component is now taken into account.
The increase cannot exceed 25 euros per year.
In its intervention, Montenegro also warned of delays in payments under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) related to the decarbonization of the industry of about eight months.
“What message are we giving to our business people when we ask to promote the transition and then we are lax, so late in making our contribution,” he criticized, saying that every day there are news about PRR funds “that are not materializing of the drawer”.
PSD leader warns against the government’s “erratic and non-transparent decisions” in the energy field
The chairman of the PSD accused the government this Friday of “erratic and non-transparent decisions” in the field of energy, warning of the worsening of tariff debts and the return of “bad habits” such as guaranteed rents to the sector.
Luís Montenegro spoke of “orange signals, not to say red” in this area, starting with the deterioration of the tariff debt to almost two billion euros next year, which has already led to the PSD asking for explanations in parliament of the supervisory authority (ERSE). ).
“Next year alone, tariff debts will increase by 1,700 million euros, the largest increase in the past decade and representing a trend reversal,” he stressed.
For the PSD leader, it is “difficult to explain” why ERSE agreed to “increase debt and thus increase interest costs for whoever ends up serving consumers”.
On the other hand, Montenegro expressed concern about what it said was the return of “bad habits from a not so distant past”, referring to “the practice of guaranteeing income” to investors in the energy sector.
“It is not the strategy that interests the country. Having a guaranteed income is not a sustainable path to a real energy transition,” he said, considering that this happened with “the illusory success of the solar auction” and could be repeated with other investments. on the Portuguese coast.
“It’s one thing to take advantage of the potential we have, but it’s another to simulate which activities are profitable,” he warned.
In its intervention at the PPE meeting, Montenegro recalled that exactly one year ago the leaders of the governments of Portugal, Spain and France signed an agreement for a “Green Energy Corridor” of energy interconnections between these countries, based on maritime link between Barcelona and Marseille (BarMar), at the expense of the previously planned crossing of the Pyrenees.
“What has been done a year later? Why aren’t these ads taking off?” he asked, cautioning that “it is not enough to fill the news with popular or uncluttered ads.”
Montenegro admitted that the context of the European energy market has undergone changes due to the pandemic, the rise in inflation, the invasion of Ukraine or, now, the worsening of the conflict in the Middle East.
“This context ultimately offers a golden opportunity for Europe and Portugal to add investment and competitiveness to green energy,” he said, finding it “incomprehensible that the Iberian Peninsula remains an island.”
In this context, the PSD leader defended the resumption of investments in electrical interconnections in the Pyrenees.
“Nine years later, the Portuguese and Spanish governments have been lax on this issue, but it is also true that the European Commission has been inactive and that, on balance, we have failed to overcome resistance in other countries such as France vanquish. be said with all texts,” he emphasized.
Source: DN
