Budgets for Sant Joan: ERC and PSC resume negotiations

BarcelonaAfter doing a reset With ERC, the government hopes that negotiations with the Republicans will bear fruit and that the budget will be approved before Sant Joan (St. John's Day), but ERC is reluctant to commit to anything more than continuing to discuss it. While the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, wants to bring the budget back to Parliament between the end of April and the beginning of May and have it approved before June 24, the ERC spokesperson, Isaac Albert, refuses to set a timetable and asks the Socialists to make proposals that allow Catalonia to "gain sovereignty" in order to secure a budget. In any case, the PSC and ERC will resume negotiations this week.

"The later the budgets are approved, the harder they are to implement, and there are a couple of plenary sessions in July," Romero stated in an interview with Ser Catalunya. In fact, the minister believes that approving the budgets before Sant Joan (St. John's Day) would be the ideal timeline "to avoid problems." "We won't set dates and we'll open a timeline that will end up trapping us," the Republican spokesperson, Isaac Albert, retorted at a press conference. Indeed, the Republicans want the strictly budgetary negotiations to proceed in parallel with the fulfillment of the investiture agreements. And in this regard, they continue to demand steps to materialize the collection of personal income tax, but they also want progress in other areas that would grant more "sovereignty" to Catalonia.

What remains to be accomplished?

What areas is ERC referring to? The Republicans declined to specify at a press conference. "That the State cease to hold the power it currently enjoys in Catalonia and that the Generalitat (Catalan government) gain it," was all Albert said. The Republican spokesperson cited the transfer of the commuter rail network, the new financing model, and the partial debt forgiveness from the Regional Liquidity Fund (FLA) as examples of what his party has negotiated so far. The investiture agreement still includes some outstanding issues related to "gaining sovereignty," although Albert declined to specify which areas they were focusing on.

El Prat Airport and Commuter Rail

Giving the Catalan government greater decision-making power in the management of El Prat airport is one of the points agreed upon by the PSC and ERC parties in support of Salvador Illa's investiture. In fact, they agreed to create an Airport Authority of Catalonia through which the Catalan government would implement its policies and have "comprehensive governance" of the airport system. The executive council approved its creationBut at this point, it still hasn't materialized. The transfer of Rodalies (the commuter rail network) hasn't been completed either, despite a set timetable for transferring the different rail lines—starting with the R1—and the creation of the new company that is supposed to manage Rodalies.

The National Convention

One of the agreements included in the investiture pact also involved creating a investment consortium that was supposed to oversee the use of the money that the State plans to invest In Catalonia, the Republicans submitted a bill to Congress a few weeks ago outlining the details, which has been agreed upon with the Socialists. It should be debated in the lower house in the coming weeks. The investiture agreement also included the creation of a National Convention to resolve the political conflict. No progress has been made on this matter. Nor has a "Government Office, attached to the Catalan Sports Council," been created, which was supposed to "promote Catalan sports teams."

Personal income tax revenue

The Catalan executive He withdrew the budget bill last week After an agreement with ERC, in which the Republicans also made concessions and stopped making income tax revenue a red line, Romero celebrated that this condition had "disappeared" as a "condition." "I think this has now disappeared from the conditions. I think it's positive on everyone's part," Romero stated. "We were at an impasse."

The Minister of Economy believes that ERC did a "disservice" to the negotiations by setting conditions that were not solely within the Catalan government's control. In fact, she has argued that any conditions ERC sets should fall within the powers of the Generalitat (Catalan government) and not be based on gestures from the Spanish government. However, the Republican ranks emphasize that their demand to "gain sovereignty" is linked to the powers the Spanish government is willing to cede.

The Catalan Minister of Economy has reiterated to the ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia) that there is no need to rush the collection of personal income tax (IRPF) because Catalonia is currently "not prepared" to manage it. "We don't have our instrument, the Catalan Tax Agency, ready for this. There's no need to rush," she stated. However, Isaac Albert insisted that IRPF collection remains a "non-negotiable" issue for his party, despite the ERC's decision to give the Socialists more time to comply. Romero sought to exonerate the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, and asserted that the Andalusian elections have no bearing on the matter. "People don't vote for one person or another based on the IRPF," she affirmed.