The Economic Circle and financing
Often, the statements of the Economic Circle have been little understood outside of Catalonia, for example when it spoke out in favor of the amnesty and when he defended a agreed referendum with the State. In both cases, the Círculo's pronouncements represented the social consensus in Catalonia, always seeking a balance between positions that on paper seemed distant. In this sense, the Círculo has always defended the need for a new financing system to end the chronic underfunding suffered by Catalonia, demonstrating that this is a demand from Catalan society as a whole—starting with its economic fabric—and not an invention of politicians. Its latest note insists on the idea of improving Catalan financing, but surprisingly lowers the ambition of the PSC-ERC agreement by distancing itself from the demand for a system similar to the Basque agreement, a majority option in Catalan public opinion, and instead opting for a "federal" system in which the State has a presence in the Tax Agency.
The most dangerous thing is that the Círculo embraces the arguments of the State Treasury inspectors and the right-wing media when they claim that if Catalonia collects all the taxes, fraud will increase. There is no empirical evidence that the concerted system, in the Basque Country and Navarre, causes more fraud. In any case, it will depend on the capabilities of the Catalan Tax Agency and the resources allocated by the Generalitat. In reality, it should be the other way around; a Catalan Treasury can be perfectly more efficient than the Spanish one in the fight against fraud.
It should be emphasized that the fact that Catalonia collects all taxes does not harm anyone; it is simply a matter of exercising a power, as is the case with education, healthcare, and security. In some ways, it seems as if the Círculo wants more resources for Catalonia but not more self-government in this area, fueling the idea that state structures should not be touched. Catalonia already hit a wall with the state in 2007, when civil society and business organizations demanded the transfer of El Prat airport. Now, therefore, a window of opportunity has opened to improve Catalan self-government, which must be seized. Therefore, pressure should be directed at the Spanish government to comply with what was agreed upon.
The Círculo is quite right in its complaint that Madrid should be much more supportive of the rest of the territories, since it benefits from the capital effect. It's embarrassing to hear Isabel Díaz-Ayuso say that Madrid is the most supportive city in Spain, when its territory is home to the majority of Spanish institutions and business headquarters, just because it's the capital. This is the real problem, the one that's causing a serious imbalance in Spain, not the fact that Catalonia can have its own tax agency and the resources it's entitled to based on its fiscal capacity and social needs.
