Fair financing: the basis of well-being and progress
The undersigned economists, representing the collective Economists for Well-being, have always been open to anything that affects the well-being of the citizens of Catalonia. Among the main pillars of our actions has always been regional financing as one of the pillars supporting the public policies that have the greatest impact on this well-being. As a collective, we have promoted several pronouncements that have had a broad public echo (2021, How to improve the quality of life of the citizens of Catalonia; 2023, How to manage own resources to improve the well-being and competitiveness of Catalonia, with seven business entities, and 2024, It is necessary to manage our own resources to improve the well-being and competitiveness of Catalonia., with fourteen professional associations).
The funding of the Generalitat of Catalonia is the necessary foundation without which healthcare, education, social protection, housing, infrastructure, and innovation policies cannot meet the standards demanded and needed by citizens. In this sense, the current situation is clearly disappointing and unfair. Our essential services and the policies that determine our future have profound shortcomings that mean that they not only do not correspond to the expected level based on our fiscal effort, but, in many aspects, are below regions that do not generate the same level of resources or make that fiscal effort, often with reckless practices. Furthermore, the different current funding systems in the State (regional and common) are profoundly unfair due to the inequalities in resources between territories they generate, even within the same common regime, and especially if the different costs of living are taken into account.
Beyond the diverse sensitivities we share as a society, the investiture pact signed at the time reflected minimal aspirations that could be combined with a sense of inter-territorial solidarity. These aspirations included real tax autonomy in terms of the management and settlement of tax revenues generated in Catalonia, clear and objective transparency in the financial relations between Catalonia and the State, and a solidarity in which those who contribute are not placed in a worse position than those who receive them.
None of this is guaranteed in the agreement between the two governments recently signed within the Generalitat-State Bilateral Commission. These aspirations are completely diluted and replaced by vagueness and vague wording that, we fear, could end in a slightly tweaked remake of the current model, in which the current beneficiaries of injustices will defend their true and real privileges. The false and cynical statements of some Spanish political leaders, more concerned with their own strategies than with the search for fair solutions, cannot confuse all Catalans.
Economists for Well-being demand a return to the basic concepts and objectives that inspired the legislative pact regarding financing and ask the Catalan government not to settle for such a flagrant retreat from the minimums agreed upon by various political forces. For the signatory economists, it is essential to incorporate the principle of ordinality; the collection and management of taxes by the Catalan Tax Agency (ATC), initially the personal income tax in 2026; the distribution criteria; and the specification of contributions to the State for services rendered and for inter-territorial solidarity.
It's not just about money. It's about the services and policies that the country needs and deserves. That is, all citizens, regardless of political affiliation or origin.
