Ribera is confident that the gas cap will be approved before the end of next week

MADRID, 8 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Third Vice President of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, has insisted that the approval of Brussels for the Iberian exception to lower the electricity bill through a cap on natural gas for power generation electricity will be received "imminently", before the end of next week.

Speaking to the press on the occasion of the XXXII Enerclub Energy Awards, Ribera indicated that "before the Andalusian elections -which will be held on June 19- seems to me to be a good date".

The minister assured that "nothing is happening beyond the details and the slower complexity than could be foreseen" so that the mechanism receives the definitive green light from the European Commission, after the Royal Decree was already approved in Spain -Law establishing it and published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) in mid-May.

On the other hand, Ribera defended the bonus of 20 cents per liter of fuel for consumers that has been applied since last April, with "independence" of the Government being able to consider in the medium term "concentrating the effort on families with lower income levels and most in need of support.

In this sense, he stated that it is "important" to maintain this subsidy for the coming months in the current situation and stressed that it will be "important to see if it is necessary to introduce some changes".

The third vice president of the Government stressed that the Executive has made "a very important effort" since last year to reduce taxation on electricity and assured that the intention is to "extend it." "It is striking that the PP, which has not voted in favor of these measures, now intends to introduce additional comments regarding the reduction of taxation," she added.

Likewise, Ribera stressed that the accompaniment of consumers at this time "cannot focus only on those fiscal or budgetary spending measures", for which he opted for a strategy that goes through "accelerating the entire transformation process of the energy system". "We cannot empty the public coffers," he said, adding that "regulatory measures, change in the energy system and fiscal support" are necessary.

On the other hand, he agreed in sharing the opinion of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the need to open a debate on the design of the marginalist electricity market. "It is relevant to open a broad and calm debate, with all the actors involved, in order to improve the design of the electricity market. But it is necessary to open it honestly, a debate that will be complicated," she assumed.