Sanz criticizes the "abandonment of functions" of the Government to regulate the coexistence between taxis and VTC throughout Spain

SEVILLA, 28 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Sanz (PP), criticized this Wednesday the "abandonment of functions" that, in his opinion, the Government of Spain has carried out in order not to regulate in the same way throughout Spain the coexistence between the taxi sector and that of transport vehicles with driver (VTC).

During his participation in a new edition of the Europa Press Andalucía informative breakfasts held in Seville in collaboration with the Cajasol Foundation and sponsored by Cepsa and Atlantic Copper, the Minister for the Presidency referred to this issue the day after the Governing Council approved the Decree Law amending Law 2/2003, of May 12, on Urban and Metropolitan Passenger Transport in Andalusia, which regulates the VTC service.

Antonio Sanz, who was presented in this forum by the president of the Andalusian Parliament, Jesús Aguirre, began by expressing his opinion on this matter that "it is very difficult for him to understand as a starting point" that the central government continues "betting on things so daily day to day citizen like the taxi service because there are 17 different regulations with the mobility that there is" in Spain.

After stating that this attitude is not typical of "a serious country", the Minister of the Presidency has remarked that "this comes from the resignation, from the abandonment of the Government of Spain" at the time "of assuming its competence", because this it was an issue in which the central Executive "had the power to regulate it", and, in fact, it was the socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero "who gave the authorizations" for VTC "that are being discussed today by mayors", as has abounded.

Antonio Sanz has alluded to the 'Ábalos Decree' with which the Government, in an "irresponsible abandonment of powers, said that on October 1, 2022" the autonomous communities would have "the obligation to regulate or the peaceful coexistence" of sectors in their regions, which means that "each site regulates in a different way".

The counselor has defended that the Board has "dialogued to exhaustion", with "more than 100 hours of dialogue", and has managed to "seat all sectors at the same table" to seek consensus.

He added that from the Board "we were clear that we had to work for coexistence in the sector, so as not to damage a sector that we are not only fond of, but also the one that we have been supporting these years", alluding to the taxi, to which from the Andalusian Government measures have been adopted that "the other autonomous communities are copying", as the counselor has also pointed out.

Similarly, he stressed that the Board was clear that "everything we regulated had to be thinking of the user, who asks you to have the best transport service, be it from one or the other", and from the premise that " We govern for the user".

Likewise, it has highlighted that, in the aforementioned decree approved this Tuesday, the Board has accepted all the demands of the taxi sector "except two for simply legal reasons, to prevent those damaged or harmed" by these measures from "recurring" and that "costs all Andalusians a fortune for patrimonial responsibility", as he warned.

Specifically, it has recognized that the two claims from the taxi sector that have not been accepted by the Board are those that "below the 15-minute time limit, a VTC could not be pre-contracted, and that the licenses that had already been issued, and that are national", and concluded by insisting on defending that the Andalusian Government has sought "coexistence" between sectors and has thought "of the users, who are the ones who want and prefer a transport service of maximum quality in our land", Antonio Sanz has settled.