What prevents a common front between ERC and Junts regarding funding?

BarcelonaThe proposal for a new economic financing agreement between the Socialists and the Republicans is not to the liking of Junts, which has already warned that it will not support it when it reaches Congress. Junts accuses ERC of having accepted a mere "update" of the model which, although This would increase the money that Catalonia receives by 4.7 billion. The current system doesn't resolve either the fiscal or infrastructure deficits. Junts' proposal is for an economic agreement that gives Catalonia control of its finances. In other words, it would allow the Generalitat (Catalan government) to collect all taxes and decide its contribution to the State, as is the case with the Basque-Navarrese model. This would require an amendment to the Organic Law on the Financing of Autonomous Communities (LOFCA), which Junts is urging ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia) to negotiate jointly in Madrid. "We have communicated to ERC the idea of a common front on core Catalan issues," Junts Secretary General Jordi Turull emphasized in an interview on Catalunya Ràdio this Thursday. But what is preventing this united front between the two pro-independence forces?

The main obstacle to this unified strategy being implemented in Congress is the starting point of both sides in the negotiations. ERC emphasizes that, despite not being a special tax arrangement, the agreement reached with the PSOE provides more resources to strengthen public services in Catalonia, and that the alternative is for those funds to remain in the Treasury's coffers. A second phase of talks is still pending, in which the Republicans hope to increase funding for the Generalitat's non-homogeneous areas of responsibility, empower the Catalan Tax Agency (ATC) to collect major taxes, and gain greater regulatory power over taxes. "We are convinced that the best possible outcome is within the scope of what we have agreed upon. There is still much work to be done. We are currently negotiating the collection of 100% of personal income tax," said ERC leader Oriol Junqueras. in an interview in this newspaper. In this thesis, Junqueras has found an unexpected ally in former mayor Xavier Trias"It's a bad financing agreement, but perhaps it's the only one possible," said the former regional leader.

On the other side, Junts remains committed to defending the economic agreement, which it failed to achieve in 2012, former president Artur Mas —who has also defended the idea of a united front—wanted to negotiate it with Mariano Rajoy's government. Despite admitting that the additional 4.7 billion would objectively be a "gain," Turull has asked ERC not to settle and to approve an agreement that, he said, does not address the needs of a country that has already surpassed eight million inhabitants: "What we don't want to give up is more than 10 million [people] coming back," he said. After a decade with an outdated model, Junts criticizes the Republicans for not "taking advantage" of the window of opportunity presented by the weakness of Pedro Sánchez's government to put the State on the ropes and force it to capitulate with the fiscal pact.

Strained relations

Another obstacle is the state of relations between Junts and ERC: sources from both parties acknowledge to ARA that contacts, while present, are not "fluid." The relationship between the two leaders of the Republican and Junts parties in Madrid, Gabriel Rufián and Miriam Nogueras, is also not particularly good. Rufián frequently criticizes Junts. accusing them of aligning themselves with the PP and Vox, while Nogueras labels him a "spokesperson for the PSOE"Speaking from Congress this Thursday, the Republican spokesperson again lashed out at Junts: "I don't share the criticism from the Convergència party, or the Catalan right, that if [the agreement] is good for everyone else, it's worthless. I'm not against Jaén doing better," he said. Regarding whether he will try to convince the Junts members to find common ground, he replied that he will try "to talk to the left above all, which is the most rational." Some voices within Sumar have expressed reservations, as has the BNG, which considers it a "centralist and recentralizing" proposal and says it will not support it.

With the idea of convincing Carles Puigdemont, Junqueras announced this week that he wants to visit the former president in Waterloo. to address the funding model, but also issues such as the application of the amnesty law. Turull suggested that if Junqueras wants to meet with Puigdemont, he only needs to write to him "when he's in Brussels": "No great formalities are necessary to arrange a meeting," he noted.

Irreconcilable positions?

Are the positions of ERC and Junts irreconcilable? For the moment, the Republicans and Socialists are combining a strategy of pressuring Junts with calls for negotiation. Economy Minister Alícia Romero reiterated this on Thursday in an interview on RTVE after defending the model at the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council. According to her, there is now a "skeleton of the model" to which improvements could still be incorporated before it begins its legislative process in Congress "before the summer." However, like the Republicans, Romero insists that hers is the "most feasible" and "realistic" proposal: "I would like to ask Junts what support they expect to have to approve an economic agreement for Catalonia in Congress. I would like to know who they are counting on," she asserted. For his part, Turull responded that it is "regrettable" not to be able to count on the nineteen PSC deputies in Congress for this vote. Nor did she spare a barb aimed at the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, whom she accused of "having no say" in these negotiations. "He's probably watching a Netflix series [...] He does what Sánchez tells him," she concluded.

From the Senate, and a day after encountering staunch opposition from the PP in the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council, the vice president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, again defended the model, pointing the finger at the PP and Vox, but also Junts, to threaten to overturn it. "Those who don't believe in public services will look for 20,000 excuses to try to justify voting against this reform," she asserted. From Aragon, where the election campaign kicks off next week, President Jorge Azcón (PP) reiterated this Thursday that it is a model that "insults" his fellow citizens.