The Congressional Industry Committee rejects the PP's comprehensive plan for the Spanish automotive industry.

With 151 votes in favor, 153 against, and 46 abstentions, the Congressional Industry Committee has rejected the comprehensive automotive plan presented as a non-legislative motion by the People's Party. After an initial tie in the vote, the committee had to resort to a weighted vote, which ultimately rejected the proposal. According to its promoters, the document sought to reform incentives, boost the auxiliary industry, and guarantee legal certainty, in the face of an "improvised transition" that threatens thousands of jobs.

The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) has argued that the government is already developing an "Auto Plan" in dialogue with social stakeholders. For Sumar, the PP's proposal has "a problem with its focus" since "without having to subsidize consumers, efforts must be intensified to make vehicle production more competitive." For its part, VOX presented an amendment to the plan presented by the PP to "guarantee the principle of technological neutrality from production to vehicle scrapping."

Finally, Bildu believes that this proposal sends a "confusing" message, signaling "backwardness" from the fossil fuel sector, which "changes the European Union's roadmap."

The initiative, presented as a "government commitment," sought to reindustrialize the sector based on sustainability, competitiveness, and digitalization criteria, ensuring a "pragmatic and neutral" technological transition and stimulating demand for vehicles adapted to the reality of the Spanish consumer.

The PNL's explanatory statement underscores the importance of the automotive industry in Spain, a sector that represents more than 11% of GDP and generates 1.9 million direct and indirect jobs. Despite having 17 assembly plants and a powerful auxiliary industry, the PP denounces that the sector is at risk due to an "unplanned energy transition," the "absence of a coherent national policy," and global trade tensions, which are causing declines in both production and exports.

The PP harshly criticizes the structural flaws of current demand-stimulus policies, especially the MOVES III Plan, which it describes as a "failed model." It points out that the lack of direct aid, administrative complexity and slowness, and technological discrimination by excluding low-emission vehicles with efficient combustion engines have discouraged consumers. This has led to a stagnation of the electrified vehicle market and an aging of the Spanish vehicle fleet, with an average lifespan of 14.5 years.

To reverse this situation, the PP proposed a new MOVES IV Plan that would incorporate direct discounts at the time of purchase, managed by dealers, and a simplified, digital process with guaranteed maximum times. This plan would be extended to cars with all low-emission technologies up to 12 months old. At the same time, they propose a technology-neutral RENOVE Plan for the scrapping of old vehicles, without discriminating between technologies, and with special incentives for large families, young people, and the self-employed.

In the fiscal area, the PNL advocated for a temporary reduction in VAT on the purchase of electrified and low-emission vehicles, as well as a complete exemption from the registration tax for vehicles with a "ZERO" or "ECO" label, especially for SMEs and the self-employed. The proposal also included measures to boost charging infrastructure, with financial incentives for installing charging stations in residential communities, businesses, public parking lots, and rural areas, and to ensure the operational availability of existing charging stations by eliminating administrative obstacles.

To strengthen the industrial and technological base, the People's Party (PP) favors the creation of an Industrial Decarbonization Fund to finance electrification, digitalization, and circular economy projects, encouraging the relocation of strategic components such as batteries and chips. Furthermore, it seeks to reform the industrial tax framework to align R&D deductions with the standards of countries like Germany and France, and to implement a Digital One-Stop Shop to streamline procedures and permits.

Finally, in the regulatory and governance field, the PP plan called for ensuring a stable and predictable environment that avoids constant legislative changes, and for ensuring technological neutrality in all mobility and tax regulations, allowing for the coexistence of different low-emission technologies.

To coordinate the entire effort, they propose establishing an Interministerial Automotive Commission comprising key ministries. These measures, along with support for exports in the face of tariffs and defense of the component industry in the EU, seek to protect jobs, strengthen the industry, and restore consumer and investor confidence, offering "an alternative government" to the current improvisation.

The environmental organizations T&E and Ecodes believe that this proposal represents a commitment to technologies that prolong the country's dependence on fossil fuels, which represents "a two-step backwards" in terms of electric mobility. Both organizations conveyed this message in a letter they sent to the Industry and Tourism Committee of the Congress of Deputies, stating that it poses a "significant risk" to Spain's strategic autonomy, a hindrance to improving competitiveness, and a measure that would undermine the country's leadership in the use of renewable and clean energy.