Economic policy group calls for ‘Catalan constitution’ within ‘federal’ framework

Economic policy organization, the Cercle d'Economia, has proposed a new statute of autonomy for Catalonia to act as a “Catalan constitution” within a Spanish territorial model with “federal characteristics.” The new statute would have to be approved in a referendum and would regulate issues like “language, education, culture, the internal functioning of self-government in areas of reserved powers, territorial organization, public administration and finance.”

“We should not fear such constitutional reform,” said the organization in a statement in the run-up to the Cercle’s 34th annual meeting, set to begin in the seaside town of Sitges on Thursday. The NGO’s call for a new constitutional arrangement for Catalonia’s self-government is accompanied by a petition for an improved system for funding autonomous communities, which the Cercle believes should be “directly responsible” for their own taxation.   

In all, the organization has put forward six proposals to “improve Catalonia’s self-government and the functioning of Spain’s territorial model.” Among them is restoring business confidence in Catalonia, raising the constitutional status of the statute of autonomy, improving the system of reserved powers, developing the institutional framework and cooperation with other communities, a multi-party commission to evaluate the territorial model of autonomous communities, and providing communities with more control over their finances.

In its statement, the Cercle also criticized the judicialization of what it considers “a political problem” in Catalonia. The organization calls on the Catalan authorities to “look to reach an internal agreement with all the political groups represented in the Parliament” with the aim of putting an end to the “civic fracture and political polarization” it detects in the country, and resulting in a new statute to act as “a Catalan constitution within the framework of the Spanish Constitution.”