Speaking to journalists in the Assembly of the Republic, the parliamentary leader of the PCP, Paula Santos, stated that, in recent years, it has been seen that the economic groups that dominate the energy and telecommunications sector “have obtained huge profits at the expense of the sacrifices of workers, pensioners and families”.

Paula Santos stressed that “the high cost of energy, electricity, gas and telecommunications” is having a “very heavy impact” on the budgets of families, especially those with low incomes, and micro, small and medium-sized companies, arguing that measures must be taken to reduce it.

“What we propose is to reinstate VAT at 6% for all electricity and natural gas, and extend it to bottled gas and piped gas, and VAT at 6% for telecommunications,” she stressed.

Paula Santos argued that these “essential goods and services must be accessible to all families” and added that, in winter, no one should be deprived of “having their home heated because they cannot afford the energy costs.”

On the other hand, the parliamentary leader of the PCP said that the party will also present a proposal to set the price of bottled gas at 20 euros, highlighting that the price in Portugal is currently double that in Spain.

“There is no logical justification for this to be the case”, she considered, noting that, in Portugal, bottled gas is the main source of energy for more than two million families.

Paula Santos stressed that these proposals from the PCP – which the party has already presented in previous legislatures, including in the last one, but which it failed to approve – aim to “address the high costs” of goods that are “fundamental to the lives of Portuguese families”.