A new financing that perhaps is not the best but is entirely necessary

BarcelonaPolitics is the art of the possible, and we must demand that our public representatives be capable both of maximizing political conjunctures and of making a realistic reading of the correlation of forces. In this sense, it can be debated whether the new financing system that the PSOE has put on the table, and which would mean an injection of 4.7 billion extra for the coffers of the Generalitat, is sufficient or not. But taking into account historical experience (it has been 17 years since any new model was proposed), and making a realistic reading of the political moment, with the PP and Vox at the gates of the Moncloa, there is no choice but to conclude that it would be a great irresponsibility to renounce this money.

With social services strained and health and education with strong financing deficits, this new system will surely not allow for great leaps forward, but it will certainly mean a balm, a breath of oxygen that will allow for putting the public accounts in order and easing the financial pressure on the Generalitat. Just a few days ago we published that the Generalitat broke the record last year for deferred expenditure: 5.295 billion, a figure similar to what would be brought in extra next year if the new system comes into operation. Renouncing this money would mean, to begin with, starting the accounting year with this hole, a deficit that is dragged from year to year and that is a burden that prevents the initiation of new projects.

Voting for this system does not mean giving up anything, neither the agreement nor the collection of the IRPF nor the control of the tax bases. It is simply a measure that will undoubtedly help to improve the lives of all citizens. The PP and Vox have already announced that they will vote against it, despite the fact that all the communities, and especially those governed by the Popular Party, will receive more resources. But we already know that the Spanish right only has one goal, which is to get Pedro Sánchez out of the Moncloa, and it does not even consider voting in favor.

In fact, this system, agreed upon between the PSOE and ERC, also does not please socialist communities like Asturias or Castilla-La Mancha, which also voted against it at the meeting of the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council. And we all know that the author of the model, former minister María Jesús Montero, paid a high price for it when she ran in the Andalusian elections and was accused of favoring Catalonia. The nervousness of the PSOE has led them to promise a new fund for the communities that currently fall below the average. Luckily, Catalonia has managed to ensure that this new fund goes outside the system and is voted on separately, so that both ERC and Junts have the upper hand when it comes to negotiating it.

The point is that right now one cannot be naive by adopting a maximalist stance. Pedro Sánchez's government is in stoppage time, and the obligation of the Catalanist parties is to take advantage of his weakness to obtain the maximum resources and powers for Catalonia before the context changes and any progress in self-government becomes impossible.