The Government presents the Investment Consortium, which will manage and plan state investments in Catalan territory

BarcelonaA tool to guarantee budgetary execution in Catalonia. The Government, Esquerra Republicana, and a large part of the business world have joined forces this Monday to present the Investment Consortium, a body that aims to manage and plan state investments in Catalan territory. The proposal, born in 2024 from the investiture agreement between the PSC and ERC, seeks to provide solutions to an “endemic problem” in the country, as stated by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Alícia Romero, who added that it will be a “good instrument” to improve Catalonia’s “competitiveness”.

The Investment Consortium is expected to reach Congress for consideration at the proposal of ERC next Tuesday, April 28. For now, the support of Junts – necessary for the project to move forward – is not assured, quite the opposite. The spokesperson for Carles Puigdemont’s party, Josep Rius, has spoken out against it, arguing that it is “innecessary” and only serves as an “alibi” for the Republicans to approve the Catalan budget. In his view, it would be sufficient to apply the third additional provision agreed upon in the Statute, which stipulates that state investment in the Principality should be made in accordance with its GDP representation, and Junts takes the opportunity to demand that resources from unexecuted investments should be transferred to the Generalitat.

The project agreed upon between the Government and the Republicans will aim to ensure that budgets are accompanied by projects so that investment becomes effective. The proposal foresees the establishment of two parity bodies between the State and the Generalitat. On the one hand, there will be the Investment Consortium of Catalonia – participated by the Generalitat and the Ministry of Transport – which will serve as an instrument for governance, strategic direction, and supervision. On the other hand, the creation of a commercial investment company is planned, which will be responsible for drafting projects and executing works that may be commissioned. This company will aim to gain “agility” and “operational capacity” in developing investments and will depend on the Consortium.

In an event at the Barcelona Economics Circle, Romero and the ERC's general director, Lluís Salvadó, agreed that the body must have a "long-term" outlook: “Catalonia needs to move from complaining to solutions,” assured the minister. Thus, they pointed out the deficit of investments that the country has experienced in recent decades. The future consortium is designed to facilitate state investment in "complex" infrastructures, meaning those in which various administrations have jurisdiction. It is foreseen that the parity body and the commercial company that will depend on it can tender and award projects, as well as draft multi-year plans and establish corrective measures in case of non-compliance with the execution of budgeted projects.

Junts' Rejection

However, for the proposal to pass in Congress on April 28, the votes of Junts are needed – or at least that they do not oppose it. But the Junts spokesman has paved the way for a negative vote, although he has not stated it unequivocally, pending the concretization of the agreement. Rius stated that "there is no need to create new things when there is an additional third provision that regulates" what to do with the investment deficit – although it has never been respected.

Thus, he emphasized the fact that an entity is not needed that "will only slow down processes", that "the last word lies with the Council of Ministers" and where the Generalitat will not have "capacity" to decide on investments: "It's the same story as with Rodalies," he sentenced. The Junts members consider that "it does not represent any structural change either," since "a PP-Vox government could come and abolish it." According to the spokesman, "it is not an organ created to resolve the investment deficit," but rather a prelude to the approval of the Catalan accounts: "If they have to approve them, let them approve them, but let them not play with such capital issues," he concluded. Furthermore, he stated that budget execution data can be known "by pressing a computer key," as it is only "a matter of political will."

Support from the business world

The project presentation was attended by a large part of the Catalan business community. In a previous round table, the president of the Cercle d’Economia, Teresa Garcia-Milà, the president of Pimec, Antoni Cañete, and the president of the Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona, Josep Santacreu, agreed in applauding the measure, which they described as a "step forward". Furthermore, Garcia-Milà pointed out that the country needs the Consortium to be accompanied by an "independent technical body" that is external to political cycles. The president of the Cercle also advocated for the body to be capable of saving the budgetary part that is not executed in one year for the coming years.

For his part, Santacreu emphasized the importance of managing investments from proximity: "Catalonia deserves to be able to decide on its infrastructures," assured the president of the Cambra. Cañete asked for different instruments to be defined that guarantee that the “opportunity cost” and the country's competitiveness are not lost. Among the public, various personalities were also seen, such as the president of the business foundation FemCAT, Tatxo Benet, and the president of the Associació de Promotors de Catalunya (APCE), Xavier Vilajoana. In contrast, no representative from the employers' association Foment del Treball attended.