The pardon agreed by the Government with ERC confronts the investiture partners
The agreement between the Government and ERC to forgive 17 billion euros of Catalan debt has reopened the issue of regional financing. But for Sumar, the issue has an extra difficulty due to the opposing positions presented by several of the coalition formations. An inconvenience that is even taking the form of a stand by threatening to vote against in a future vote in the Congress of Deputies “if the Treasury does not renegotiate” the criteria used by María Jesús Montero’s ministry to take into account “the underfunding suffered by its territories”.
The first partner to speak out was Compromís, which on Tuesday rejected the Catalan agreement arguing that it does not take into account “the needs of the Valencian people”. According to its parliamentary spokesperson, Águeda Micó, in a very critical tone, the Treasury proposal only takes into account the criteria relating to the 2008 financial crisis and ignores the “underfunding” suffered by its autonomous community. Specifically, Micó explained that the Valencian territory currently has a global debt of 59 billion euros, of which 47 billion are caused by the lack of financing and with the Treasury proposal only 19% of this debt would be reduced.
"This debt is generated here, in Madrid, the debt was generated by the central government, it was not generated by the citizens who live in the Valencian territory," he stressed.
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This is why the Sumar MP has called on the Valencian PP and PSOE to form a “common front” and demand that the Executive take into account the situation in Valencia. “If they (the Government) want to negotiate, we will negotiate and we can reach agreements, but if they do not want to negotiate with us, we cannot support this forgiveness that does not take into account the real needs of the Valencians,” she warned.
Asked if her party had had any contact with Montero's ministry to address this issue, Micó criticised the fact that the PSOE had only spoken with ERC for this agreement, which, she said, benefits Andalusia the most, where the first vice-president is a PSOE candidate and therefore "benefited her".
La Chunta recalls the historical debt that the State has with AragonSimilarly, the Chunta Aragonesista, also integrated in Sumar, has reiterated that “the system of regional financing does not work”. Its deputy Jorge Pueyo has put on the table the “historical debt” that Aragon claims to suffer due to being an underfunded community. And he has also linked the support of his party to the PSOE in future votes such as the hypothetical negotiation of the general budgets.
“The reduction of 2.124 million euros is a starting point,” admitted the Aragonese deputy. “But the debt that the State has with Aragon is much greater, the result of a system that underfinances the community by 628 million euros annually,” he reiterated.
The Commons call for calm and trust that the Treasury will be able to reconcile “all realities”The Comuns, for their part, have tried to balance both positions. Their spokesman, Gerardo Pisarello, has defended as “positive” the agreements reached by the Government with ERC and with Junts for Catalonia, praising “the understanding between political forces that constitute the plurinational and transversal majority that supports the current government”. And, at the same time, in the face of criticism from some of the Sumar partners, he has supported the demands for individual financing for the different communities. “They are logical”, he assured.
However, given the incompatibility that both positions currently present, he has called for room for negotiation, declaring himself “convinced that the Minister of Finance will ensure that all realities are taken into account.”
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