“We have validated the prior agreement, which we consider very positive,” said Esquerra’s spokeswoman. Raquel SanzNext to him are the members of the party’s executive. The core of the understanding is the financing system. They call it the “Economic Solidarity Party” and they assure that when it is implemented, the federal government will have the key to the long-awaited fund, a historical vindication of Catalonia and independence. However, Sans did not specify the timetable for the implementation of the entire model or when Catalonia will actually leave the system of shared financing of the autonomous regions. The text of the prior agreement, with all the small details, has not yet been published, and the commitment to the deadline for achieving this economic agreement has also not been clarified in the electronic gathering with the intransigence shown by the negotiators of the “European Council for Economic Reform”. They did it yesterday evening, chaired by the Secretary General of the body.
According to sources consulted by VilaWeb, Joseph Maria Jove He explained that the agreement includes the commitment that during 2025 the joint committee of the State and the General Government will establish the timetable for the transfer of the collection, management and settlement of all taxes paid in Catalonia. Joffé did not specify whether it is the bilateral committee or the mixed committee for economic and financial affairs that he relies on, but in any case it will depend on the understanding that the Spanish and Catalan governments can reach, if that happens. Salvador Illa Foss invest t Pedro Sanchez If it stays in Moncloa, they will form the Socialists on both sides of the negotiating table. Thus, the two governments will have to define over the next year the deadlines and materialize the transfer of taxes to Catalonia such as VAT or special taxes, which are now collected and managed entirely by the Spanish Tax Administration Agency (AEAT), although part of it has been partially ceded and forms part of the financing basket. In order for the Catalan Tax Agency (ATC) to be able to take on this task, the bilateral commission will have to provide details on how the allocation of these taxes will be implemented and the transfer of human and material resources from the Catalan Tax Agency to the Catalan Tax Agency. That is, of staff, offices, etc. The method and conditions.
The materialization of the general framework therefore remains pending the bilateral agreement, as Jove explained. But the prior agreement between the ERC and the PSC contains important specifications, which are in fact the backbone of the agreement. It is that in 2026, the Catalan agency will have to collect, administer and settle the personal income tax for 2025. According to the calculations made by the Ministry of Economy in its unique financing proposal, this will be around 22,000 million euros. Because it will be, according to the ERC, to take over the management of 100% of this tax and not just the 50% that the State has already partially ceded to Catalonia, although it is collected by the Spanish administration and the proportional part continues to reach Catalonia in the form of monthly advances, with the rest of the tax basket passing through the filter of the solidarity contribution funds with which the current financing model operates. This figure is huge because, at this time, the Tax and Tax Commission collects and administers only 9% of the taxes paid by Catalans (around 4,900 million), which is equivalent to the special taxes and those transferred in full.
While waiting to see if the agreement document specifies this, it remains up in the air how the movement between the current model and economic harmony will be, with personal income tax management as a first step. That is, is it possible for Catalonia to manage 22,900 million from its own coffers but be equally affected at a global level by the solidarity contribution made from the rest of the tax basket that it does not have? In other words: What do we gain on the one hand that we can lose on the other? What are the guarantees that this will not happen? San explained that the ranking principle would be respected. Although he did not specify how this would be guaranteed, the commitment would be that Catalonia would not lose its ranking positions after contributing to solidarity. This principle has not been respected so far. Only in 2009, the first year of the current funding model, was Catalonia above average, not below it. According to data published by the Ministry of Economy, calculated from the 2022 funding settlement, Catalonia was the third region that contributed the most per capita income to the system but dropped to tenth place after the settlement. Fourteenth if the cost of living effect is taken into account. How does traffic fit from one model to another? From now until 2016, when the personal income tax is implemented, Could there be a global reform of the single system’s financing system? And how would that affect Catalonia if it was still part of it? Or would it already be excluded?
The ERC claims to have secured the Socialists’ commitment to promote all the legislative changes necessary to materialize the agreement. Sans referred to the reform of the Organic Financing Law of the Autonomous Communities, without going into details. According to the Single Financing Agreement presented at the time by the Pere Aragonés government, it would also be necessary to amend the Law on Financing the Autonomous Communities in the Common System (22/2009) and the Law on Tax Transfer to the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (16/2010). This means that the PSOE and Sumar must actively participate in legislative changes, as should the other groups that formed Sánchez’s inauguration.. This includes Junts, EH Bildu, PNB and Podemos, taking into account that PP and Vox will oppose it as expected. In fact, it was the question of guarantees that complicated the validation of the agreement by the executive in Esquerra, which asked the PSOE to ensure that “whoever governs” will guarantee the implementation of the agreement. It will be necessary to analyze whether the agreed document obliges the Spanish Socialists beyond assuming the commitment to this motive. “There were moves by the PSOE at the last minute,” Sans pointed out.
In the event of a gradual implementation of this economic agreement, if the bilateral commission has already agreed on a timetable for next year to make this possible, How will the solidarity contribution and payment of state services be calculated in Catalonia? It is another detail that remains to be seen if the agreement is to be decided. It will be a basic political agreement between the Catalan and Spanish governments, which will depend on which parties are in power at the time. In any case, the unique funding proposal indicated that it could be negotiated in the joint economic and financial affairs committee of the state and the government or in another specially created committee.
The ERC maintains that if the rebellion endorses Friday’s pre-agreement, it will facilitate the installation of Salvador Illa but will not enter the government. It will be able to maintain some leverage over the Peace and Security Council if it also becomes its priority partner in annual budget negotiations that should provide stability to the island’s government.Will it be enough for the leader of the Peace and Security Council to fulfill everything he promised, according to the ERC? Because the paradox of the agreements assumed by the PSC is that their implementation will depend, to a large extent, on the PSC. The Socialists remained silent yesterday, waiting for the Esquerra leadership to ratify the agreement and begin explaining it to their members. So did the Socialist Workers Party. The position the Socialists will take from now on will also be part of the cotton test of the Pact.
However, the main difficulty that Illa will face in investing is that the left-wing radicals mostly vote in favor of the agreement. According to Sans, the executive supported it almost unanimously. Alongside Rovira and Pere Aragonés, there were members of the administration such as Oriol Junqueras who, with their presence and participation in the negotiations, made it difficult for the former ERC president to distance himself from the agreement. However, it remains to be seen whether he actively defends the deal or not. Sources close to Junqueras indicated that he did not negotiate the prior agreement and will know all the details at the same time as the rest of the militants, and that he has expressed confidence in the negotiating team and in the radicals to reach the final decision. The ERC has called the regional councils tomorrow to explain the agreement. The next three days will be decisive before the bases have the final say on Friday.
“Prone to fits of apathy. Introvert. Award-winning internet evangelist. Extreme beer expert.”
