Catalan and Spanish vice presidents meet amid controversy over the recent suspension of several Catalan laws

Barcelona (CNA).- Catalan Vice President, Oriol Junqueras asked current Spanish Vice President Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría not to take the Catalan law against energy poverty before the Constitutional Court (TC). He made this request during their meeting held in Madrid, during which Junqueras accused the TC of acting “in the interest of the political parties which name its magistrates” rather than considering “the general interests of the citizens”. In response, Sáenz de Santamaría assured that the suspensions don’t correspond to political reasons but to “conflict of competences”. Junqueras, who is Catalan Minister for Economy and Tax Office as well, also referred to Catalonia’s deficit target set by the Spanish government and described it as “unfair, arbitrary and far from what citizens deserve”.

Junqueras regretted that the Spanish executive “is only temporary when it is in their interest” and described the meeting with his Spanish counterpart as “very cordial but very difficult”. One of the main subjects on the table was the litigation of politics, with the recent suspension of more than 30 laws which were approved by the Parliament and later taken before the Constitutional Court in the spotlight. He transmitted to Santamaría that “the TC acts more in the interest of the political parties which name its magistrates than according to the general interests of the citizens”. In response, Sáenz de Santamaría assured that the suspensions don’t correspond to political reasons but to “conflict of competences” between the Spanish State and the Autonomous Communities. “It is not a matter of political discrepancies”, she stated.

In this vein, Junqueras also asked Sáenz de Santamaría not to suspend the Catalan law against energy poverty, which guaranteed energy supply to those families who couldn’t pay their bills. The TC considered the Catalan decree “unconstitutional” as it “invaded competences” of the Spanish State. Santamaría assured that the government is committed to “studying this possibility”.

Catalonia’s deficit target is “unfair and arbitrary”

Another subject discussed during the meeting was Catalonia’s deficit target, which the Spanish executive recently modified from 0.3% to 0.7%. Junqueras considers this threshold “unfair, arbitrary and far from what citizens deserve”.Santamaría noted that “the Spanish state will assume any additional effort” so that the Autonomous Communities “can have greater comfort”.

Indeed, after his meeting with Sáenz de Santamaría, Junqueras and the officials responsible for economic policy in the other Autonomous Communities met with current Spanish Minister for Finance, Cristóbal Montoro, to discuss this matter.

Meeting of the Security Board

Junqueras also got Santamaría’s commitment to convene the Security Board, which hasn’t met in the last 7 years. Thus, Catalan Minister for Home Affairs and his Spanish counterpart Jorge Fernández Díaz will meet “shortly”. One of the subjects which would presumably be on the table is the debt that Spain still has with Catalonia in relation to the transfer of the Catalan Police, ‘Mossos d’Esquadra’, as well as the way to achieve greater involvement of this squad in matters such as the fight against terrorism.’.