MADRID, 20 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Association of Construction Companies and Infrastructure Concessionaires (Seopan) has warned that the delay and low execution of the Perte and the projects financed with European funds will force the extension of the Next Generation execution deadlines so as not to lose financing.
The president of the employers’ association, Julián Núñez, lamented at a press conference that only 6.7% of European funds have been allocated to infrastructure, that is, 11,619 million euros of the total 173,525 million available, despite the multiplier effect What do you think this sector has on economic activity and employment?
In this sense, he compared the situation in Spain with that of Italy, a country that has invested six times more in the high-speed rail network and almost twice as much in sustainable mobility than in Spain, as well as a package of 10,900 million to urban infrastructure and electric charging points, all with European funds.
The sector has highlighted the urgency of modernizing and updating the regulation of public procurement in Spain in order to execute more than 212,000 million euros in European financial aid by 2027.
Núñez has reiterated “the lack of political will” to solve “the paralysis and regulatory blockade” derived from the Deindexation Law of 2015, which prevented price review since that year, although the Government approved last year an extraordinary mechanism to do so possible.
However, this tool excluded energy and labor costs from review, as well as contracts for the conservation, maintenance and operation of roads, railways and the integral water cycle, with more than 70,000 workers.
“The inexistence of price review systems in these contracts makes their execution unsustainable by representing their salary and energy costs, on average, 30% (roads and railways) and 31% (water cycle), respectively”, has explained.
In addition, despite the fact that some materials such as steel, copper and aluminum are reducing their prices by 6% for the first and 12% for the second and third, they continue to be 51%, 38% and 33% higher, respectively, than those of 2020. Gas and electricity are also currently down 12% and 62%, but are still 556% and 121% more expensive compared to 2020.
In relation to public investment, Seopan has reiterated its “insufficiency” with records in transport, purification and water supply that are 52%, 54% and 58% lower, respectively, compared to 2010.
