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:

• 20 cent reduction per liter of fuel refuelled
• Limitation on rental payments for housing
• Public aids for the transport sector granted after strike action by employers

Content of measure

The Royal Decree-Law 6/2022 (which approves the "National Plan of response to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine") includes a new line of credit guarantees from the Official Credit Institute (ICO) for €10 billion. This budget covers liquidity needs of companies and the self-employed. The Ministry of Economic Affairs guarantees the financing granted by supervised and eligible financial institutions. The guarantees are managed through the Official Credit Institute (ICO). The guaranteed credits may be requested until 31 December 2022, and will have a grace period of 12 months.

The applicable conditions and requirements are established by agreement of the Council of Ministers. Specifically, on 10 May 2022, the terms and conditions of the first tranche of the line of guarantees for financing of €5 billion were published. For guaranteed amounts of up to €400,000, the guarantee covers up to 80% for up to 10 years. For loans of more than €400,000, 80% of the new financing will be guaranteed for the self-employed and SMEs, and up to 70% for other companies, with a repayment period of up to 8 years.

Use of measure

According to the report published by the ICO on "Línea ICO Avales Ucrania", up to 29 February, 28,374 operations had been formalised, requested by 23,415 companies and the self-employed. The amount of guarantees requested totals €4,716.0 million, which have enabled the mobilisation of resources through new loans and other forms of financing of 6,079.3 million. 95% of the operations have been subscribed by self-employed and SMEs.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Self-employed	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies	National funds

Social partners

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

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

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

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral 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, following on from the meeting 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

There are no views from social partners on this measure. Concerning the "National Response Plan to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine" as a whole, the unions looked at the huge profits of electricity companies as one of the points to act on.

From the employers' side, Garamendi (President of CEOE) warned about the temptation for companies to contain dividends, as they can generate mistrust and discourage investment. The president of the employers' association expressed his support for the decisions taken by the European Union and the government since the war began, but called for action to be taken quickly to avoid greater consequences

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)
• 11 May 2022: BOE, Spanish State Official Gazette (Resolución de 10 de mayo de 2022, de la Secretaría de Estado de Economía y Apoyo a la Empresa, por la que se publica el Acuerdo del Consejo de Ministros de 10 de mayo de 2022) (www.boe.es)
• 22 November 2022: Royal Decree Act 19/2022 (www.boe.es)
• 07 June 2024: Agreement by the Ministers' Council (www.ico.es)