The Government of Spain approves the Annual Regulatory Plan, with which the legislature will be brought to a close

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The government has approved the Annual Regulatory Plan, which contains all the regulations it plans to adopt in the financial year 2023. It includes a total of 117 initiatives: 3 organic laws, 33 ordinary laws and 81 royal decrees. One third are linked to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, another third are transpositions of EU rules, and the rest have already passed through the Council of Ministers in first reading.

The Minister for the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños, has specified that the plan is "a roadmap to culminate what is probably the most transformative legislature in the history of democracy". Its planning, he said, is realistic, transparent, in line with the government's priorities and commitments set out at the beginning of the legislature, and is an exercise in accountability.

In this regard, Bolaños recalled that the government continues to guarantee economic growth, transforming the productive fabric, strengthening the welfare state and extending rights and freedoms. "So far in the legislature, we have approved 124 laws and three state budgets, in line with what we want for our country: to be more modern, with a more sustainable economy and committed to ecological transition, digitalisation, equality and social and territorial cohesion," he said.

Lines of transformation of the country

Félix Bolaños stressed that the first line of the plan is the transformation of the productive system to make it more sustainable and competitive and to generate more growth and employment. To this end, the document envisages the adoption of the Industry Act, the student startup statute and the creation of the National Startup Forum. It is also committed to the ecological transition, promoting the use of renewable energies such as green hydrogen, and to the digitalisation of the economy and public administration.

According to the minister, the second strategic axis is the reinforcement of the welfare state to guarantee the protection of social and economic rights for all citizens. To this effect, the Law on Families, the Law for Equality in the Access to and Enjoyment of Social Services and a new regulation of benefits for the dependency system will be approved.

The third line of the plan is the extension of rights and freedoms through more modern, efficient and transparent institutions. Bolaños pointed out that the right to defence will be strengthened and relations between interest groups and public authorities will be regulated.

Combating antisemitism

The Minister for the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños, during his speech at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The Council of Ministers has approved the National Plan for the Implementation of the European Strategy to Combat Antisemitism and the Promotion of the Jewish Way of Life 2023-2030.

Félix Bolaños explained that the document reflects a European strategy approved in October 2021, which responds to the concern in the union about the persistence of hate speech and antisemitic attitudes, and the detection of serious incidents that affect places of worship, cemeteries and property belonging to members of the Jewish community.

The minister pointed out that Spain has been working in this area for many years and will now take advantage of the plan to improve and reinforce the measures already in place against antisemitism. The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain has taken part in its elaboration, and Bolaños thanked them for their collaboration, work and effort.

Lines of action of the plan

The first axis is the prevention and fight against all forms of antisemitism and incitement to hatred and acts against Jewish communities, especially on social media. The second involves promoting the conditions for the exercise of the right of Jewish individuals and communities to live in accordance with their beliefs and traditions. And the third is to educate people about the significance of the Holocaust in history.

In the minister's opinion, the plan is a forceful response to stop antisemitism, provides more resources and means to this end, and helps the Jewish community to develop their life in Spain in accordance with their beliefs and traditions.

Bolaños reiterated that the government denounces and condemns any hate crime or antisemitic behaviour because they are absolutely contrary to constitutional and EU values.

Aid to farmers for the fertiliser price hike

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, during the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The Council of Ministers has authorised the payment of €300 million in aid to farmers for the increase in the price of fertilisers, as set out in the Decree-Law approved on 27 December.

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has framed the measure within the set of initiatives adopted almost a year ago to alleviate the increase in costs caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia: "This is a government committed to the primary sector, to farmers, livestock breeders and fishermen".

The minister mentioned the €179 million earmarked to support the dairy sectors, the €193 million for the meat and citrus fruit sectors, the €60 million in additional aid for the agricultural insurance sector, and the tax rebates and aid for agricultural and fisheries diesel, among other measures. The total amount of support exceeds €1.8 billion.

Cost and price reduction

Luis Planas explained that in recent weeks prices have been more stable in the cereal and oilseed markets, but that this is not the case with such a strategic product as fertilisers, which cost twice or even three times as much as they did before the war. €300 million represents around 15% of farmers' expenditure on fertilisers, which will allow both production costs and end-consumer spending to be reduced.

Some 250,000 farmers will benefit from the initiative. Each will receive up to €22 per hectare for rainfed land and up to €55 for irrigated land, with a maximum limit of 300 hectares and a minimum payment of €200. The same mechanism will be used as for the payment of aid in the dairy sector, i.e. through the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund. A provisional resolution of the beneficiaries will be published later this month, and the ministry expects to pay out the aid before or during the spring.

Planas defended the fact that together with seeds, fertilisers are "the chips of the primary sector", which is why Spain and Europe as a whole must be autonomous in their production and make progress in the use of manure and slurry.

"This government will continue to support the entire primary sector in the fight to reduce production costs, with the aim, as part of its support for the food chain, of ensuring that all Spaniards have access to food in sufficient quantity and quality and at reasonable prices," he said.

Food aid for the most vulnerable population

The Government Spokesperson and Minister for Territorial Policy, Isabel Rodríguez, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, and the Minister for the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

Also in the area of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the government has approved the contracting of the supplementary supply of the 2023 Food Aid Programme for the Most Deprived, for an amount of €28 million.

The potential beneficiaries of this programme, funded by the EU and the Spanish budget, amount to 1.4 million people. Luis Planas explained that this initiative allows for the centralised purchase of non-perishable products, which are then delivered to the Spanish Red Cross and the Spanish Federation of Food Banks for distribution. "It is an important and necessary programme, especially at the present time and for the most vulnerable population," he said.

Improving the quality of life of youths

The Council of Ministers has approved the first Youth Action Plan, which includes more than 200 measures until 2024. The Minister for Territorial Policy and Government Spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, has framed the plan within the commitment to improve the living conditions of this group, "a generation of young people who have gone through two consecutive crises", both with specific initiatives and via cross-cutting policies.

The plan allocates more than €10.4 billion to education, €4.35 billion to employment policies, €2.35 billion to promoting emancipation and access to housing, especially rental housing, and €650 million to quality-of-life policies and access to culture, with initiatives such as the youth cultural voucher.

As for the transversal axes of the government's action for the benefit of young people, Isabel Rodríguez mentioned the labour reform, the increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage, free public transport and the commitment to an economic model based on sustainability, research and innovation.

First Spanish Strategy for Humanitarian Diplomacy

The Government Spokesperson and Minister for Territorial Policy, Isabel Rodríguez, during her speech at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The Government has approved the Spanish Strategy for Humanitarian Diplomacy, with a time horizon of four years until 2026, and three basic objectives: preventing conflicts through mediation and peace operations; promoting respect for international humanitarian law; and supporting victims of war, especially refugees.

The government spokeswoman stressed that Spain has thereby become one of the first countries in the world to have a strategy of this type.

Renewal of the Agreement with the Basque Country and reform of the Agreement with Navarra

The Council of Ministers has approved the draft laws on the renewal of the Basque Country quota and the incorporation of new taxes into the Economic Agreement with this community, as well as the preliminary draft for the reform of the Economic Agreement between the state and Navarre to include these taxes.

The Minister for Territorial Policy explained that these matters have been dealt with "absolutely normally" in the corresponding mixed commissions and will now continue to be dealt with to be agreed upon in the parliamentary sphere.

Non official translation