Spain has allocated an additional 43,5 million euros for eco-incentive subsidies. With the subsidies, Spain intends to promote rail freight based on environmental and socioeconomic merit. The eco-incentive subsidies were introduced after a deal with the European Commission (EC) on the release of funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Earlier, the EC wanted Madrid to implement new tolls for road haulage in 2024 in order to promote the use of railways. The toll implementation would be a precondition for unlocking billions in funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Fund (RFF). The Spanish Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, was no fan of these proposed measures and pledged that rail freight would be boosted through other initiatives.
A round of negotiations ensued, which ended with the EC approving Spain’s alternative plan to boost rail freight. Instead of making road haulage more expensive, Spain opted to subsidise rail operators through eco-incentive subsidies and to deploy rolling highways. The subsidies are intended to promote the digitalization, sustainability and innovation of the logistics chain, and are allocated based on “environmental and socioeconomic merit”, according to Europapress.
Additional funding
Now, Madrid is increasing its spending commitments on the eco-incentive subsidies. It has set aside another 43,5 million euros for the upcoming two years. In late 2023, the Spanish transport ministry allocated 26,1 million euros in eco-incentive subsidies to Renfe Mercancías, Captrain España, Medway, Transfesa Logistics, Low Cost Rail, CSP Logiten, Go Transport Servicios and CEFSA. The ministry then said that it would allocate a similar amount in early 2024.
In 2023, the amount allocated to each company depended on the ton-kilometre volumes moved between April and December 2022 along the General Interest Railway Network. To qualify for the subsidies, these volumes needed to be higher than the same period of the previous year or the average of the previous two years. The amounts paid to the eight operators vary between 275,000 and 13.7 million euros, as the ministry specified.
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