The leadership of Esquerra Republicana claims to be “very satisfied” with the content of the agreement it reached this Monday with the PSC for the investiture of Salvador Illa. According to what the Republicans have stated – verbally and without yet showing any document – the leap in the autonomy of Catalonia would be historic, especially in fiscal and financial matters, with the Generalitat achieving a status very similar to that enjoyed by the Basque and Navarrese provincial councils.
Accompanied by the party’s top brass, spokesperson Raquel Sans explained that, according to the agreement they have reached with the PSC, and which the Government supports, the Catalan Tax Agency will gradually become the body responsible for collecting all taxes, starting with the IRPF (income tax) next year.
But tax collection would not be the main issue of the agreement. The communities have already delegated the management and liquidation of some tax figures without this causing any particular controversy. However, ERC affirms that the agreement for Illa’s investiture also implies that Catalonia leaves the communities of the common regime according to the financing law (LOFCA), to have its own financing law.
Marta Rovira’s party refers to this as getting “the key to the box” and maintains that it means that the Generalitat keeps all the resources collected in the community, except what it transfers to the State, as payment for its services and a solidarity fund with the rest of the communities. This transfer, which would no longer go from Madrid to Barcelona but in the opposite direction, is what in the jargon of the Basque concert they call “quota” and should be negotiated bilaterally.
Sources from the Ministry of Finance say that the agreement reached between ERC and PSC has their backing, but they avoid commenting on the Republicans’ interpretation, which, on Monday, is the only thing that has been revealed. Esquerra says that the document will be made public on Tuesday, after it has been explained to the militants.
Catalonia’s exit from the common regime is not a simple operation at the legislative level, since it would entail, from the start, the modification of the law on financing of the communities, with organic rank. Due to this, it would need the support of the absolute majority of the Chamber, which would have to bring Junts into agreement, but also all the other formations that supported the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, some of them very reluctant to an agreement for Catalonia.
The agreement’s completion, however, is of utmost importance for the ERC rank and file, which is called to vote on the document next Friday. Both in the party itself and in the PSC, fear has been raised that the Republican membership might reject Illa’s investiture, either because of the decision itself or as a punishment for the current leadership of Marta Rovira.
Catalan Ministry and party convention
The negotiating team of the ERC general secretary placed great emphasis on the economic issue from the first day. The same agenda includes the creation of a joint consortium between the Generalitat and the Government to manage the State’s territorial investments. A formula that would serve to remedy the fact that year after year the level of execution of these investments in Catalonia remains far from what is desirable.
But the document, as outlined by the Republicans, also includes agreements on other matters. One of them is the creation of a new Department of Linguistic Policy, designed to promote and defend Catalan.
The so-called “resolution of the political conflict” is also back in the spotlight. After the time for bilateral talks, which have lost their meaning because if they were to be maintained, a socialist would sit on both sides, ERC is now betting on a “convention of Catalan parties” which, according to the agreement, would be chaired by a republican and would serve to debate the proposals of the political parties on this matter.
Negotiation against the clock and on both sides
The pre-agreement has been in the works for several weeks and within a tight schedule that ERC had imposed on itself. The final proposal began to be finalised on Sunday night, but it was not until Monday that ERC considered that the counterparty had offered sufficient “guarantees of compliance”.
Rovira’s negotiators have been in talks for weeks with the PSC, with whom they formed special groups for each issue. But in the last few hours there have also been contacts with the PSOE and the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for endorsing both the financing formula and guaranteeing compliance with the agreement.
PSC sources acknowledged on Monday that the balance achieved in the negotiations was fragile and that it was important that nothing went wrong so that the document would obtain the endorsement of the ERC executive, as has finally happened, but above all so that it would convince the party’s rank and file. They will make their statement on Friday but, for the moment, the Republican leadership has already redoubled its efforts to defend the document.
Source: www.eldiario.es
