CUP to present amendment to the budget but remains open to further negotiation

CUP's rank and file have voted against approving the Catalan government's budget but in favour of continuing negotiations. In spite of the anti-capitalist party's disenchantment with the ERC-JxCat coalition, its grassroots has decided to seek to obtain new commitments from the Catalan executive in exchange for passing the budget. In any case, it is a clear warning sign for the coalition, after 63.42% of CUP's members voted in favour of presenting an amendment to the totality of the budget. In the second vote, 68.79% of members voted in favour of continuing negotiations.

The CUP ranks are upset over broken promises. They claim 40% of the agreements with the government have not been kept up, while the Government says 80% are being carried out. The governments support for large projects such as BCN World and the Winter Games, along with opposition to increasing taxes for high earners and holding a referendum before 2025 have also played a role.

At the press conference to present the results, CUP spokeswoman Eulàlia Reguant considered the result showed three reasons of discontent with the executive: "normalisation of relations with the State" under the Socialists, lack of effort to creat "conditions for self-determination or a turn to the left" and a budget which does not break with the status quo, criticising insufficient investment in housing or health. In this sense, Reguant has regretted "the Government's haste to reach an agreement for the expansion of El Prat airport or the candidacy to the Winter Olympics ahead of the conquest of social rights". In any case, the anti-capitalist spokeswoman explained that they will work "until the last moment to unblock the situation" by meeting the different organisations that make up CUP in the coming hours in order to "achieve a turn to the left and guarantee the right to self-determination".