Background information

The war in Ukraine has increased economic and political uncertainty, and has led to higher commodity prices. The substantial increase in electricity and gas prices may jeopardise the coverage of companies' liquidity needs and put pressure on the cost and price structure of the economy.

This measure intends to lower energy prices, support the most affected sectors and the most vulnerable groups, and reinforce price stability. The aim is to limit the economic and social costs of this temporary distortion in gas prices and to facilitate the adaptation of the Spanish economy.

This support is additional to other existing support measures within Royal Decree-Law 6/2022 (also described in this database), such as:

• Public aids for the fisheries sector
• 20 cent reduction per liter of fuel refuelled
• Public aids for the transport sector granted after strike action by employers

Content of measure

Royal Decree-Law 6/2022 ("National Response Plan to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine") includes an aid package for the agricultural sector to mitigate the effects of the increase in the price of electricity, animal feed and fuel.

For the agricultural and livestock sector, Spain obtained €64.5 million in the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/467 of 23 March 2022. This amount will be complemented by up to 200% of state aid (€128.16 million). Thus, the agricultural and livestock sector has an aid budget of €193.47 million. The funds from the EU budget will be transferred by the FEGA (Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund).

For the milk producing sector €124 million will be provided to cow's milk producers, €32.3 million will be provided to sheep's milk producers and €12.7 million will be provided to goat's milk producers. The amount received by each producer depends on the number of animals they own. The maximum amount provided per enterprise can not exceed €35,000. This aid is also managed by the FEGA (Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund).

Use of measure

There are no estimated number of users. All Spanish companies and self-employed in the agricultural and livestock sector can benefit from this measure.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Self-employed	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government EU (Council, EC, EP)	European Funds National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

As stated in the background section, this measure is part of the "National Response Plan to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine" and social partners were involved.

In order to reach a consensus with all interest groups on the "National Response Plan to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine" (Royal Decree-Law 6/2022 of 19 July), the government held a round of contacts with parliamentary groups, social agents, and the autonomous communities (regional governments).

On 21 March 2022, the meeting of the "Social Dialogue Table" was held, continuing the meeting that was held on 7 March with the President of the Government. The representatives of workers and employers had the opportunity to share their proposals for dealing with the economic impact of the war. On the employers' side, the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, and the president of CEPYME, Gerardo Cuevas, attended; and on the workers' side, the secretary general of UGT, Pepe Álvarez, and the secretary general of CCOO, Unai Sordo.

Views and reactions

A few days before the approval of Royal Decree-Law 6/2022, agricultural and livestock sector trade unions agreed that the situation of the farms was unsustainable, as a result of the increases in the price of diesel or feed. UPA (the professional organisation 'Union of Small Farmers') accused large energy companies of seriously damaging the agricultural sector through speculative practices, and called on the government to intervene to halt this 'unacceptable' rise in energy prices.

The approval of Royal Decree-Law 6/2022, which was well accepted by companies and trade unions, has helped to appease the complaints of social agents in the sector, who were calling for aid to deal with the sharp price rises.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 29 March 2022: La Moncloa. Presidency of the Government. Agreements and regulations approved by the Council of Ministers (www.lamoncloa.gob.es)
• 30 March 2022: BOE, Spanish State Official Gazette (Real Decreto-ley 6/2022, de 29 de marzo, por el que se adoptan medidas urgentes en el marco del Plan Nacional de respuesta a las consecuencias económicas y sociales de la guerra en Ucrania) (www.boe.es)