Politics

A day after the President of the Catalan Government and leader of the centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, Artur Mas, announced his plan to further develop the so-called state structures before the 27 September elections, the leader of the left-wing Catalan independence party ERC, Oriol Junqueras, has once again requested to be part of the Executive and sit in Cabinet. Junqueras justified his request in order “to guarantee the indispensable state structures”, such as Catalonia’s own tax administration and Social Security system. The embryonic frame of such structures should be created before the next Catalan elections, which will be called early and will be transformed into a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence from Spain. On Tuesday, Mas had already ruled out the possibility of the ERC sitting in Government and, on Wednesday, the Catalan President stressed that the current Cabinet will only be in office for the next 6 months.

On Monday, the National Executive Commission of the centre-right pro-Catalan State Coalition CiU, which is its leading committee, has explicitly referred to last week's crisis. Last Tuesday, the CiU MPs in the Spanish Parliament voted differently, showing a split within the coalition, coinciding with the two integrated parties: the Liberal and pro-independence force CDC (the largest one) on one side and the Christian-Democrat and pro-Spanish unity party UDC on the other. The CiU's Spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament and leader of the UDC, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, believed the CDC MPs had not obeyed his voting instructions to support the Penal Code's reform, while the Liberal MPs were insisting that the CiU group had previously agreed on abstaining. Now, the CiU leadership considers the crisis to be over and highlighted their "full support" for Duran i Lleida.

Government Spokesman Francesc Homs has stated that Catalan President Artur Mas’ hearing in Parliament “cannot convince” the parties that accused him of misconduct “without any proof”. “If the one accusing doesn’t bring any evidence and expects to be convinced by the testimony of someone by whom he doesn’t want to be convinced...we find ourselves in an impossible situation”, Homs argued after parties such as the PP said Mas’ explanations in the Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday were not enough.

The conservative Spanish nationalist People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government, has appealed against the Catalan Executive’s 2015 budget bill, which will delay its definitive approval and implementation by up to one month. The new budget was supposed to be approved this week by the Catalan Parliament, after months of negotiations between the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU and the left-wing Catalan independence party ERC. The new bill will increase social spending and also increase funds for Catalonia’s own tax administration and for the launch of a Catalan Social Security agency. The Catalan Government accused the PP of “parliamentary filibusterism” and warned them that the appeal “will not stop the [self-determination] process” nor the creation of “state structures”. However, it will damage families in need, as it will delay the implementation of new social programmes.

The Catalan Government’s Deputy Minister for External Affairs, Roger Albinyana, announced the Executive’s aim to have a network of “about 50 delegations” throughout the world, representing Catalonia’s political, business and cultural interests abroad. The Catalan Government currently has 7 delegations abroad, after the new representations in Rome and Vienna start to work on Monday, when the representatives were appointed. The 5 others are located in Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin and Washington. In the coming “months and years”, the Catalan Government will continue to open new delegations. Regardless of the hypothetical independence from Spain, the Catalan Executive already has the powers to have its own External Action policy, recognised by the Catalan Statute of Autonomy from 2006, although with many limitations.

Barcelona High Court judge Santiago Vidal, along with a team of other law experts, has presented a proposal for a future Catalan Constitution in the event of independence with the aim to steer debate. The draft includes 97 articles according to which Catalonia would become a parliamentary republic with no army. However, this proposal can be changed as a webpage has been created through which citizens can table amendments online. Along with this draft, two other constitution projects have been presented: ‘constitucio.cat’ created by a team of Catalan law experts living abroad, and another constitution draft presented by ‘Lawyers for independence’ from the National Assembly of Catalonia (ANC). Spain’s Judicial Power Council (CGPJ) has called for the expulsion of Santiago Vidal from the Judiciary for his pro-independence initiatives.

According to a study by the Professional Association of Economists of Catalonia (Col·legi d’Economistes), an independent Catalonia would obtain a much better grade from rating agencies than it currently gets, taking into account its diversified economy and higher GDP per capita than the European average. Specifically, it would obtain an A+ rating, 7 levels higher than the current BB ‘junk bond’, using Standard&Poor’s classification. The study highlights that without the current fiscal deficit with the rest of Spain, the rating would be “at least” that of the Basque Country and would enable the Catalan Government to access the international financial markets. Catalan taxpayers pay much more to the Spanish Government than the amount they get back in terms of services and infrastructure; a fiscal deficit equivalent to between €13bn and €17.5bn per year.

Adam Price, the former Member of Westminster Parliament and Harvard University expert, believes it “would be very difficult” to argue that an independent Catalan state would not be prosperous. In fact, he thinks Catalonia “would have done better” without being part of Spain. Price is an acclaimed economist and political expert and the author of a report written for Harvard University on the economic potential of smaller countries. In the report Price examines how smaller European economies have a higher chance of gaining economic success than larger ones. Studying small European nations, Price believes, without a doubt, that an independent Catalonia would have huge potential in the long run. However, he also stresses that “transition cost” are another debate.

After confessing that his family had kept a fortune in Andorra without informing tax authorities for 34 years, the President of the Catalan Government between 1980 and 2003 and founder of the centre-right Catalan nationalist coalition CiU, Jordi Pujol, his wife Marta Ferrussola and 3 of their 7 children (Marta, Mireia and Pere) testified before the judge investigating the case. They are indicted for alleged fiscal fraud and money laundering. During more than 2 hours, Pujol (aged 84) answered the judge’s and the anti-corruption public prosecutor’s questions. He insisted that his father had left a hand-written letter with instructions about 140 million pesetas secretly left in Andorra in 1980 for his wife and children, but not him, coming from his “illegal” activities selling currencies during the dictatorship. However, the defence has not yet presented any supporting documents. Besides this, 3 of Pujol’s other sons are indicted for other fiscal fraud and corruption cases.

The current President of the Catalan Government and leader of the centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, Artur Mas, will have to testify as a witness before the Catalan Parliament’s committee investigating the alleged fiscal fraud and possible corruption committed by the former Catalan President and CiU’s leader until 2003, Jordi Pujol. Artur Mas is Pujol’s political heir and was the ‘number 2’ in his last cabinet. Pujol, who uninterruptedly chaired the Catalan Executive between 1980 and 2003, confessed last July that his family had kept a fortune in Andorra for the last 34 years without informing tax authorities. The confession shocked Catalan society, since the historical leader of the conservative Catalan nationalists was a crucial figure in the fight against Franco’s dictatorship, the transition to democracy and the recovery of Catalonia’s self-government. Now, Pujol, his wife and 6 of their 7 children are being investigated by the judiciary for alleged fiscal fraud and several corruption scandals. 

The governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU and the left-wing Catalan independence party ERC have reached an agreement to approve the Catalan Government’s budget for the current year. After the President of the Catalan Government and CiU leader, Artur Mas, and the ERC’s President, Oriol Junqueras, reached an agreement on holding early elections on 27 September as a plebiscite on Catalonia’s independence, both parties reopened the budget talks. After 10 days of negotiations, they have reached a definitive agreement, which includes a €100 million fund that will bring more resources for social programmes. They have also agreed to stop paying some allowances to senior officials. Furthermore, they will add €10 million to the development of Catalonia’s own tax administration and they will also create the Agency of Social Protection, which is to manage Catalonia’s Social Security system.

Barcelona plays host this weekend to the 1^st Southern Europe Forum, under the slogan '#southrEUvolution'. Politicians from the European Alternative Left-wing parties and the leaders of the main social movements will meet in Catalonia to broaden political alliances. The main objective of the meeting is to create alternative policies for the south of Europe, different to the austerity measures promoted by the Troika. The forum has been promoted by the Catalan Green Socialist and post-Communist coalition ICV-EUiA, with the support of the Spanish United Left Party (IU) and the Greek Alternative Left Party Syriza. At the forum leading MEPs such as Pascal Durand, from the French Green Party and the European Green Party (EGP) co-president Monica Frassoni will also be present.  

The Constitutional Court has accepted to debate the Spanish Government's last appeal against the Catalan Executive's tax on bank deposits, which has to be paid by financial entities. Such a decision represents the automatic cancellation of the tax for an initial period of 5 months. Catalonia approved such a measure in December 2012 and two weeks later, the Spanish Government approved its own tax with a 0% rate, so it was 'de facto' cancelling the regional taxes. However, instead of compensating Catalonia for having cancelled the tax – as it is legally obliged to do – the Spanish Government refused to do so, since it argued that the tax had not entered into force yet and took the issue to the Constitutional Court. The Court initially accepted the Spanish Executive's appeal and the tax was temporarily suspended, but in May 2013 it was lifted. In July 2014, the Spanish Government modified the tax with a 0.03% rate and in December it presented a new appeal against the Catalan tax, which brought in some €680 million in 2014.

The Catalan Green Socialist and post-Communist coalition ICV-EUiA has presented the manifesto 'Catalonia with Tsipras' supporting Syriza, the Alternative Left Party that according to the polls could win the upcoming Greek General Election. More than 2,500 people have already signed the document through Change.org. The manifesto states that a clear win for the Alexis Tsipras party would be best for Europeans, in order to "initiate a necessary rebellion" in Southern Europe. The leaders of the main Catalan trade unions and some actors, writers and academics have expressed their support for the text. Barcelona will host a meeting focused on these elections on the 24^th of January.  

The Catalan Government is expecting to post a 2.2% deficit for the whole of 2014, corresponding to some €4.41 billion. However, the definitive figure will not be known until March. This is more than  double the 1% deficit target that the Spanish Government unilaterally imposed on the Catalan Executive. Over the last few years, the two governments have quarrelled about deficit targets, since the Spanish Executive is imposing much stricter objectives on the Autonomous Communities than those it allows itself, despite regional governments exclusively managing and funding the basic Welfare State services such as healthcare and education. For instance, for 2014, the Spanish Government only allowed the Autonomous Communities to only have 15% of the whole deficit allowed by the European Union to Spain’s entire public sector, despite managing some 35% of the country’s public funds and basic services.