Catalan public works engineers declare independence unilaterally

BarcelonaCatalonia’s Society of Public Works Engineers (CETOP in Catalan) is living in a miniature Catalonia. It has starter a “war” against its Spanish counterpart (CITOP) where the original causes and the arguments used by both sides are a small-scale version of the Catalan independence process.

However, the Catalan public works engineers are one step ahead of their own nation. Sick and tired of being the largest source of membership fees (€210k per year) but receiving the least funds (€68k in 2014), they have taken unilateral action: eight months ago members were asked to stop paying any fees to the Spanish Board --as they had always done-- and, instead, to pay them straight to the Catalan society. So far 350 of the 1,200 public works engineers in Catalonia have followed suit. How has the CITOP responded? By contesting the creation of the CETOP 24 years ago, with claims that there were “irregularities” when it was set up. The CITOP has also refused to terminate the membership of the 350 “rebels” and, instead, has put them on the list of debtors. A formal complaint has been filed against their Catalan president, Xavier Font, and another member of his team. A court ruling --expected before the summer-- should determine who is right in this “outright war”.

Financial reasons, political trigger

The main arguments behind the dispute are financial, but the trigger was political. Ricardo Rodríguez Alonso, the former president of CETOP, refused to sign the National Pact for the Right to Decide, which caused a rebellion within the society, leading to snap elections in May 2013. For the first time since 1991, two candidacies ran separately, with Xavier Font’s breakaway list narrowly winning at the polls. When asked by this newspaper, Miguel Navarro Weiss --vice president of the Spanish CITOP-- recalled how “the previous president of the CETOP was always keen to claim what they were due, but always in harmony with the CITOP; but Xavier Font wanted a bilateral status that we cannot accept, as our charter does not allow it, not to mention the whole thing about Catalans paying so much but getting so little in return ...”. The “whole thing” can be summarised as follows: Catalan engineers contribute to CITOP about €210k in yearly membership fees, but the CETOP only received €103k in 2013 and --following a controversial restructuring of regional funding distribution-- only €63k in 2014. The Catalan society expects to receive just €35k in 2015. This radical change happened in November 2013, when Font was already president of the CETOP and before the Catalans refusal to pay. When the CITOP decided how the cash would be split over the following two years, Catalonia, Madrid and Alicante got the smallest share. CITOP’s vice president Navarro Weiss admits that they “took into consideration each region’s finances and the better-off ones had to make a larger contribution; the funds belong to all the Spanish members because our resources are unified. He added that “the taxable subject is not a region”.

Faced with this financial chokehold, the board of the CETOP began to encourage “tax insubmission” among its members. So far 350 have followed suit. The “rebels” have stopped paying all fees to the CITOP and have asked to leave the Spanish board, but their request has been turned down “because our charter does not specify any of the reasons they have given”, says Navarro. Instead, they have been added to a list of debtors, which means that --once their debt becomes large enough-- legal action could be taken against them.

Indeed, the “taxable subject” mentioned by Navarro Weiss is precisely the root of the problem. In 1982 the Catalan government passed its own bill of professional boards, societies and associations. Following this new legislation, in 1987 the Catalan branch of the CITOP asked to set up their own society, given that the Spanish body was willing to promote decentralisation. With the CITOP’s blessing, the CETOP was formally founded in 1991, with its own VAT number and legal entity, albeit with “ties” to the Spanish body.

22 years of peaceful coexistence

22 years of peaceful coexistence came to an end in 2013 when the president of the CETOP no longer played nicely with Madrid. The vice president of the CITOP recalls that “the Spanish law of professional boards only includes two types: single boards with local branches and independent regional societies that meet within a general council. When the CETOP was born, a third kind was created, but the law did not allow for this. I think that this legal conundrum should have been resolved back then because, according to the Spanish law, no two professional boards may coexist in the same area”, he added. That is why in 2013 they appealed against the Catalan law of 1991 before court number 5 for administrative litigation and a ruling is expected. However, Miguel Navarro Weiss fails to mention that according to the CITOP’s own charter, approved in 2001 --ten years after the creation of the Catalan society-- “(...) the CITOP’s activities will encompass all of Spain (...) provided that a region has not set up its own society”. During his interview with this newspaper, the real reason for the whole conflict slipped out: “at the time we agreed that the CETOP could go ahead so long as it operated as a regional society, as per our charter”.

Before the judge rules whether the CETOP is a legal body or not --it has the full backing of the Catalan government-- the vice president of the Spanish board explains how he offered a deal to the Catalan president, Xavier Font, so as to put an end to the dispute: “both sides would agree to accept the court’s ruling without appealing against it, but the deal must be signed before we have a ruling”. Navarro claims that his proposal “has not been answered”. However, the CETOP argue that the offer was not quite like thatt. Rather, they offered a non-aggression pact until there was a ruling. The Catalan society agreed to it verbally --no documents were signed-- but in the meantime the CITOP filed a complaint against the Catalan president of the CETOP and now has plans to open their own branch in Catalonia. “And they call that a truce!”, the CETOP complain.