Since the fortunate end of ETA terrorism, the Basque Country has lost the media prominence it enjoyed since the Transition, but this does not mean its political conflict with the Spanish State has ceased to exist. The political struggle for greater self-government has historically been led by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), although in recent years the pragmatic shift of EH Bildu has also led the radical Basque nationalist left to join the fray. Basque society is so convinced that negotiation is the right path, after the trauma of political violence, and that to optimize this negotiation it is necessary to strengthen its own parties that the PNV and Bildu together hold 65% of the votes in the Basque Parliament and 54 of the 75 seats. On the 16th, the Basque and Spanish governments, within the framework of the Joint Transfer Commission, signed the transfer of five new powers to the Basque Country: Maritime Rescue, the management of the Barakaldo Machinery Verification Center, non-contributory family benefits, unemployment benefits, and school insurance. It was also approved that the Basque Country will manage unemployment benefits starting January 1, 2027, meaning that the SEPE (State Public Employment Service) offices will become part of the Basque Lanbide network (in Catalonia, there is a dual network of the SEPE and the Generalitat's OTGs for active employment policies). It is highly significant that all these powers have taken 45 years to be transferred, despite being enshrined in an organic law such as the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia.

The Basque government, after securing the transfer of five powers to the Basque Country at the last minute two weeks ago (including Maritime Rescue and non-contributory family benefits), is now focusing, once and for all, on completing the implementation of the Statute of Autonomy. According to the Basque Statute, fifteen areas remain to be addressed. Of these, perhaps the most important, due to their significant economic and infrastructural implications, are the management of pension payments and the transfer of airports. The payment of contributory pensions would be the final step in the economic management of Social Security, a concept on which the central government has yet to take a position, following the transfer of the management of unemployment benefits and subsidies two weeks ago. This latter matter already met with strong reservations from senior technical experts in Madrid, but not from the political side, as they perceived a serious risk of disrupting the unitary model and the single fund of the Social Security system. In fact, the transfer agreement clearly establishes this as the red line. The "technical" aspects of pension payment management will reignite the debate.

One outstanding issue for Catalonia is improving technology transfer, that is, the process of transforming knowledge from scientific and technological research into practical solutions or applications for the market. It is an essential element of innovation and, by extension, improving productivity, the variable that ensures long-term progress. The Basque Country in Spain and Flanders in Belgium are two benchmarks that Catalonia looks to, characterized by having innovative ecosystems focused on industry.