Ten urgent guidelines for discussing financing at the bar

BarcelonaHere are 10 concrete points to consider regarding funding:

1. How important is the announcement?

The last time a Spanish government minister undertook a similar exercise was Elena Salgado on July 12, 2009. Thus, more than 15 years have passed. That model was supposed to be reviewed after five years, that is, in 2014, when Mariano Rajoy was already in power, but it never was.

2. Has Catalonia negotiated all the models?

Yes. What has happened now is nothing new. In 1993, Jordi Pujol negotiated an initial reform with Felipe González. In 1996, he did so again with José María Aznar, and also in 2000. In 2009, the negotiations were led by the Socialist Antoni Castells, but the approval of ERC was necessary. Now, the negotiations have also been three-way, but with ERC playing a more prominent role.

3. Is the model unique for Catalonia?

The model presented yesterday is not suitable because it refers to the financing of shared powers. It is true that Catalonia has powers that no other entity under the common system shares, such as the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), and these must be financed separately. The model will be unique if the Catalan Tax Agency (ATC) ever collects all taxes, whether within or outside the common system.

4. Does the model benefit Catalonia?

Regarding the previous model, yes, because some variables used to calculate it benefit Catalonia more. But Catalonia will not be the biggest beneficiary: that honor will go to territories like the Valencian Community or Murcia, which start from a worse position.

5. Is the principle of ordinality fulfilled?

The calculations have been made so that, in the case of Catalonia, being the third to pay, it is also the third to receive, but this has not been calculated for the other regions. The reason is that respecting the ordinality criterion in the 15 autonomous communities and making it compatible with the principle of status quoIn other words, ensuring that no one loses out on their current income is an impossible puzzle to solve.

6. Could Catalonia lose ground in the future?

It remains to be seen whether the law will incorporate any compensatory mechanism to prevent this, but technically it is possible, although difficult. It could happen, for example, if there is an economic crisis that particularly affects Catalonia and not the rest of the country.

7. Where does the 1,700 euros per inhabitant come from?

This is the calculation of Catalonia's share based on population adjustments, that is, weighting all the variables involved (aging, population dispersion, school-age population, etc.). This is where ordinality is achieved, which is not the case when calculating based on the actual population of 8 million inhabitants.

8. Can Juntos overturn the model?

Yes. If the members of the regional parliament add their votes to those of the PP and Vox in Congress, who have already announced their opposition, the model will fall.

9. Does Feijóo have an alternative model?

No. In fact, the PP has not presented its own model since José María Aznar's last reform in 2000. The reason is that it has territories with conflicting interests.

10. What are the chances of the model being approved?

Initially, there are few. However, it remains to be seen whether any cracks will appear within Junts, and also whether there will be any movements within the PP.