ERC and PSC subscribe to the mixed company

BarcelonaOne of the mantras ERC resorts to in defining its relationship with the PSC is that of "gaining sovereignty". The Republicans explain that their agreements are based on achieving more resources, competences, and decision-making capacity for Catalonia. Have they achieved this? For now, through republican and socialist pushes and pulls, they have been unblocking some of the files agreed upon in the investitures of Salvador Illa (2024) and Pedro Sánchez (2023). However, they have found the solution in a mixed formula: establishing companies jointly owned by the Generalitat and the State, where the state administration has a majority.

there is no time horizon to reach itthere is no temporal horizon to reach it". The Republicans argue that with this intermediate solution, the State is the one that assumes Renfe's debt and they also recall that technically it was necessary for Renfe to temporarily retain the majority of ownership to avoid losing operating licenses.

This model is what ERC and the PSC also put in writing to move forward with a commercial company that will serve to monitor the investments that the State plans for Catalonia. Who will own this company? In the bill that the Republicans presented to Congress a few weeks ago, which regulated the investment consortium and also this commercial company, it was established that the share capital of this company had to "guarantee" the "majority participation" of the State. The governance of this company would be agreed upon by the two administrations. In this case, ERC justifies the State having the majority because it is the one that has to provide the resources to execute the infrastructure.

arrived at drawing up a plan B in their political presentationThe Catalan Treasury

What about the Catalan Treasury, another of Illa's star investiture agreements? The Republicans pushed for the PSC to accept that the Tax Agency of Catalonia "manage and collect" all taxes paid in Catalonia. However, this has been met with the Spanish government's refusal and has been evidenced with the first of the taxes planned to be transferred to the Generalitat, the IRPF. ERC is aware of the difficulties and, even, they drew up a plan B in their political report from last year's congress. "There is the possibility of creating a consortium between the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT) and the ATC to make a progressive transfer". The point was not even voted on because the leadership removed it, but there are sources within the leadership who assume that this could be one of the ways to unblock the transfer.

The Statute of Catalonia precisely includes the possibility of creating a consortium between the Spanish and Catalan tax administrations. In fact, it pointed to the obligation to establish it within two years (the Statute was approved in 2006 and this part of the text was validated by the Constitutional Court in 2010): "A consortium or an equivalent body, with parity participation of the State Tax Administration Agency and the Tax Agency of Catalonia. The Consortium can be transformed into the tax administration in Catalonia".

However, at the moment it has not yet been specified how the Catalan Treasury will end up working. In the Bilateral Commission a year ago, the Generalitat and the State agreed on network management between the two administrations and, for the moment, the Spanish government has refused to open the file for the collection of the IRPF. The new Minister of Finance, in fact, has publicly shown reluctance to validate this agreement.