ERC gives the PSOE more time but maintains the transfer of IRPF as a condition for the budget

BarcelonaThe creation of the investment consortium – the body that should serve to oversee investments in Catalonia – was meant to serve as dazzling for ERC to open talks with the Catalan government on the budget, While negotiations continue for an agreement on income tax collection, the president of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), Oriol Junqueras, confirmed on Monday that his party is withdrawing its proposed income tax bill. This gives the ERC more time to accept a commitment it already made for the investiture of Salvador Illa. Junqueras warned, however, that the red line remains: they will not begin negotiating the Catalan government's budget until an agreement is reached allowing the Catalan Tax Agency to collect income tax. The ERC's plan now is to present the potential income tax agreement as part of the amendments to the financing law, which Finance Minister María Jesús Montero is expected to present at some point. "If we don't have guaranteed support for these amendments, we will understand that the Socialist Party (PSOE) is not interested in Salvador Illa having a budget," Junqueras stated at a press conference. If the ERC's proposed law had been voted on next week, it could have revealed a break with the PSOE had the Socialists not supported it. This is a possibility the Republican leadership has sought to avoid. In fact, if there is no agreement with the investment consortium before next week's plenary session, Esquerra might also end up not presenting the law, according to Republican sources. The Socialists maintain their opposition to ceding the power to collect personal income tax in Catalonia—as stipulated in Salvador Illa's investiture agreement—and to the other autonomous communities. The Republicans' proposed law included the modification of three laws, among them the Organic Law on the Financing of the Autonomous Communities (LOFCA). Junqueras has insisted that for Esquerra to agree to negotiate a budget, it is not enough for the PSC to endorse the amendments to the financing law: "We want the support of the entire PSOE. If it's not clear, it means they don't want a budget." "Since we are convinced that everyone will eventually understand the benefits of the financing model, it is easier to approve the amendments already passed regarding personal income tax in the financing model," Junqueras explained. What time limit have they set for negotiating this issue? The ERC leader has left it in the hands of the Catalan Socialists, whom he believes are the most interested in having a budget. "If the Catalan government wants a budget, it will surely find a way to convince the PSOE. The more of a hurry the Catalan government is in, the harder it will try to convince the PSOE," he stated. In fact, the ERC leader has indicated that if no agreement is reached to open budget negotiations, his party is "predisposed" to negotiate supplementary appropriations. A year ago, the Republicans, along with the Comuns, supported all the budgets presented by the government.

Criticism of incentives for CAPs

While budget negotiations between the Catalan government and ERC have not yet begun, Junqueras has warned that the executive's measure to offer Incentives in primary care centers (CAPs) to reduce sick leave This is not the way. "If there is any suspicion that any sick leave is not legitimate, there are other tools," she pointed out. However, those who have demanded the withdrawal of the measure are the Comuns. "Public healthcare is not defended by pressuring doctors or blaming patients, but by strengthening primary care," stressed the party's coordinator, Candela López, at a press conference. ERC, Comuns, and CUP have requested explanations from the Catalan Government and, specifically, that the Secretary General of Health, Narcís Pérez, and also the Secretary General of Business and Labor, Pol Gibert, appear before them.

The Comuns have already begun negotiations with the Government regarding the budget, but the party maintains that they remain "stalled" and are waitingprogress in the ban on speculative housing purchases. The Government, for its part, maintains that they are still negotiating after the fourth meeting they held this Monday.