President Armengol announces direct aid to the most affected sectors and social protection measures
The Government of the Balearic Islands has reached a consensus with the main institutions, social agents, political parties and civil society, within the so-called Pact for the Economic and Social Reactivation and Diversification of the Balearic Islands, on a detailed document of 70 actions that are considered essential to alleviate the effects that the war conflict that Ukraine is currently suffering, with the Russian invasion, may have on the archipelago.
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As a result of intense working meetings and collaboration with the main agents of the different social and economic sectors of the Islands, a document has been agreed upon that aims to promote various measures of a social, labour and economic nature that must contribute to minimising the effects of the war, both from a humanitarian and economic point of view.
The document agreed today makes special reference to the consequences on energy and fuel supplies, but also proposes specific aid and lines of action for the sectors most affected by this new world crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
Thus, on the one hand, the most urgent needs of displaced refugees on the Balearic Islands will be addressed, and on the other, a set of protection policies for society and the economic and employment sphere will be proposed, with actions aimed at alleviating the effects of the war, both for companies and for workers on the Balearic Islands.
After the meeting of the Pact for Reactivation, the President of the Government, Francina Armengol, thanked all the participants for “absolutely condemning” the invasion of Ukraine and working together to find “the best proposals in these difficult times we are going through”.
The President assured that, during the plan presented today, “the problem has been approached by saying: the solution is European because the problem is European” and, therefore, asking Europe and the State for “a regulatory change” that involves lowering the price of energy.
Armengol also explained that the Government is working with the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla to jointly demand from the Spanish Government “specific measures in terms of transport and hydrocarbons, given the additional costs for the non-mainland territories”.
As for the regional proposals, the President defended that they are measures of “necessary complementarity” with those of Spain and Europe and that they will be focused on attention to refugees (with tax deductions for families who want to take in refugees or make donations related to the war in Ukraine), on the protection of people (with specific aid for vulnerable families) and on the protection of the most affected sectors: “we have committed direct aid to transport and the primary sector that we will work on with the sectors and social and economic agents”, she stated.
The vice-president and councillor for Energy Transition, Productive Sectors and Democratic Memory, Juan Pedro Yllanes, for his part, defended that “energy transition is one of the ways to stabilise the prices of a basic necessity such as electricity and to stop depending on foreign energy sources”. That is why the plan presented today includes measures such as speeding up all the self-consumption projects currently underway and requests to the Spanish government-related not only to the establishment of a maximum price for electricity but also to speeding up the ecological transition “to make self-consumption a right for the citizens of the Balearic Islands”.
Finally, the Councillor for Social Affairs and Sports, Fina Santiago, has vindicated the institutional collaboration that is taking place in the Balearic Islands to attend to “the two great areas of vulnerability” that the war has generated, the one related to refugees, whom the Government “is committed to welcoming in collaboration with the Government of Spain”, and the one related to vulnerable people in the Balearic Islands. “It is time to continue protecting”, said Santiago, in reference to the Government’s proposal for the State to “extend all the housing protection measures that were activated during the pandemic”, as well as initiatives to speed up the processing of the Minimum Vital Income. All of these measures will be complemented by regional subsidies to organisations working to alleviate energy poverty and to guarantee food for vulnerable people.
The set of measures proposed today within the framework of the Pact for the Economic and Social Reactivation and Diversification of the Balearic Islands amounts to 70 in total, which are divided into three main areas, both autonomous and national: humanitarian measures, social measures and economic measures.
Regional measures
The measures proposed today include humanitarian measures at the regional level in various areas, such as social services, health, education and employment.
In addition, and with the aim of complementing the measures that the State can take at the national level, the Government of the Balearic Islands will promote another group of measures to extend this social and economic shield. In this sense, measures have been proposed to streamline the management of European aid, mechanisms to review and adjust public contracts, and measures to accelerate the energy transition and encourage a reduction in the cost of electricity.
Likewise, actions are also proposed for specific activities, such as the transport, agricultural and fishing sectors, as well as measures to defend the maintenance of the productive fabric of the Balearic Islands.
In addition, requests are made to the Spanish government, both in the social and economic spheres, to alleviate the possible negative effects of the war. In this regard, budgetary measures have been proposed, as well as measures to stabilise electricity and fuel prices, to facilitate public aid through a change in the regulatory framework to speed up these procedures and facilitate the streamlining of the management of European funds, and measures to promote the energy transition, among others.
At the state level, protection measures are also proposed for the sectors that have been most affected by the consequences of the conflict in the Balearic Islands, such as direct aid to the transport sector and the agricultural and fishing sectors.
Today’s meeting of the Pact for Reactivation was attended by representatives of the Partido Popular, Gent per Formentera and Més per Menorca, in addition to its members.