Is it possible to govern without budgets?

The answers to this question can be diverse, and yet I venture one: without budgets, one can administer, but not govern. The distinction between these two concepts is not insignificant. Administering would be equivalent to guaranteeing the ordinary functioning of public services and the continuity of public policies already underway. Governing, on the other hand, involves setting priorities, transforming the present, and preparing for the future. To administer, a government is not necessary; public employees are sufficient. To govern in the sense I have mentioned, a government is indeed necessary.

In Catalonia, as is well known, the last approved budget was that of 2023. At that time, there was a coalition government between ERC and Junts; the president was Pere Aragonès, and the Minister of Economy was Jaume Giró. That was three years ago, a clearly excessive amount of time. Certainly, this unusual situation does not imply a closure of essential services: primary care centers and hospitals continue to serve the population, schools continue to educate children and young people, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) carry out their security duties, and public transportation not under the Spanish state's control operates normally. These are just a few examples among many others we could mention. In the daily lives of most citizens, the lack of a new budget is not very noticeable. So why is it often emphasized that having a budget is so substantial? It is even frequently highlighted that the budget law is the most decisive of the entire year. In this regard, let us recall that President Aragonès called early elections two years ago because the Comuns (Commons) decided to reject the budget. Are we now in a similar situation?

In recent days, we have seen the Catalan government withdraw its budget proposal from the Parliament. This has avoided a painful parliamentary defeat, but it has revealed a clear weakness in the government. The pressure on ERC hasn't worked, so far... However, the conclusion is crystal clear: in the best-case scenario, Catalonia won't have a new budget until the second half of this year, and even then, it's not guaranteed. In other words, the majority that made President Illa's government possible in the summer of 2024 is not functioning. And it's not functioning in what is most essential: having the main tool to do what they were elected to do, that is, to govern. Unfortunately, we are becoming accustomed to seeing, and accepting, situations that should be exceptional as normal. But they are not. Not approving a budget should be the exception, not the rule. And uncritically resigning oneself to anomalies like this is nothing more than a sign of democratic weakness and misguided complacency.

The justification put forward, or rather, the justification put forward so far, by the ERC leadership for postponing the budget process revolves around the Socialist Party's failure to transfer the management of Personal Income Tax (IRPF). Certainly, to date, the main agreements between the Republicans and the Socialists have fallen short. What was supposed to be a complete transfer of the commuter rail service will not be complete. What was meant to be a unique financing system for Catalonia will not be unique. And the commitment that the Generalitat (Catalan government) will manage the basket of taxes paid by Catalans is far from being fulfilled. Given this situation, the doubts of the Republican leaders are understandable, but it is nonetheless the result of what they themselves negotiated and what they established, at the time, as priorities.

I want to draw attention to an argument that's being repeated so often it's become almost an absolute truth: we're told that the problem with formalizing the transfer of personal income tax management is that the Minister of Finance is the PSOE candidate in the Andalusian elections, and that she can't afford to run in those elections. I'd prefer to be wrong, but I fear that after the Andalusian elections, the underlying issue will continue to surface. And the underlying issue is that the PSOE should accept that tax management is handled by Catalan institutions and not by the national government. If they haven't accepted it with the commuter rail service, due to opposition from Renfe (the national railway company), will they accept it with the Tax Agency? We'll see...

The reality, beyond the recent budget negotiations, is that despite deep internal divisions, the Republicans made President Isla's government possible. The conditions they imposed depend more on the PSOE than on Catalan politics, and consequently, we are subject to the interests of the Spanish Socialists. These interests, I fear, will become increasingly detached from Catalan needs and priorities as the general elections approach, which, at the latest, will be held next year. And from Catalonia, we must decide whether we are content to continue administering, or whether we want to govern.