The Ministry of Industry continues to advance in the formula to distribute the second call for the Perte of the electric and connected vehicle (VEC) after a first decision that caused tension with the big ones in the sector. In this second line of aid, the Government has already negotiated with the European Commission to increase the amount of subsidies, on the one hand, and to make them more flexible, on the other. The maximum limit for each company or project will rise to 30%.
There are more than 2,181 million pending definition. In the first installment, 793.73 million were granted to ten projects, so more than 70% of the Perte will be defined in the coming weeks.
This second distribution will be governed by a change in the State aid regulations that Brussels has introduced as a result of the law to reduce inflation driven in the United States. To try to avoid investment flight, the Commission has changed the rules of the game so that countries can send subsidies to companies in a more agile and direct way.
The negotiation with Brussels to improve automotive aid was initiated by Reyes Maroto’s team in Industry and is being completed by Héctor Gómez’s. Among the novelties, it is worth noting that the aid received by the projects that are presented will be significantly increased. To this end, the Government has managed to increase the maximum aid limits for each company or project by up to 30%.
In this way, in the second installment of the Perte VEC, the General Category Exemption Regulation (REGC) will be modified so that the transfers are greater. In the table contemplated by the Ministry of Industry, and to which La Vanguardia has had access, a notable increase in aid in the aforementioned RGEC is collected. For example, the largest is the line of industrial research, with 35 million euros, almost double the initial 20 million. Or the experimental development, which amounts to 25 million from the initial 15. The commitment to environmental protection will have a recognition of 30 million, compared to the initial 15, double. The projects that are presented may see these amounts improved, as happened with the first installment of the Perte, when the aid that was distributed exceeded the REGC items.
In addition to this notable increase in aid, Spain has managed to close several new developments with Brussels that will affect the second distribution of the Automotive Part. According to Industry sources, there will be the possibility of receiving subsidies for more specific projects than those contemplated in the first installment and the funds will be eligible without the need to associate with small and medium-sized companies present in the production chain. That is to say, the Executive contemplates a relaxation of the conditions to which must be added the already known extension of deadlines so that the projects can be developed until 2028.
In the automotive sector there are great hopes placed on the second Part VEC that the Government wants to have defined this summer. The intention is that this new framework helps two giants that were left out of the first installment or that hardly received resources, Ford and Stellantis, to be included in the new cast. They would join Volkswagen and Seat in the group of main recipients. Renault, on the other hand, which in Spain has opted more for hybrids than for electric ones, could have more difficulty.
The new funds can be used for the arrival of two electric models at the Ford plant in Almussafes in 2026 and for the incorporation of a new line of electric vehicles at the Stellantis factory in Vigo based on the Stella platform, which could later be replicated. in the centers of Figueruelas and Madrid.
The idea is that, with the new funds, large companies can individually obtain aid of up to 350 million euros with which to develop projects. The forecast is that Stellantis aspires to about 200 million euros and Ford, to about 170 million.
Of the 2,181 million, a good part, close to 1,000 million, will be dedicated to electric car batteries. It is in this part that Asian investors are invited to enter, with Chinese companies such as Byd or Envision already positioned. Indian giant Tata is also expected to explore its options in Spain.
In the first call for the Perte, the most emblematic project was that of the Sagunt battery factory, promoted by Volkswagen and Seat, which will receive public support of 360 million and which contemplates a total investment of 3,000 million euros.
Volkswagen has announced that it will mobilize investments of 10,000 million euros with all its initiatives in Spain.
