Junts and PP block creation of Spanish Public Health Agency in Congress

The Spanish Congress surprisingly rejected the creation of the Law for the State Public Health Agency.

Despite having supported it throughout its proceedings, Junts changed their vote to 'no' along with the far-right Vox and conservative People's Party (PP), thus the law was rejected by 176 votes against to 167 in favor.

The spokesperson for Junts in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, justified the party's decision as a response to the Spanish government's veto on the amendments proposed by her party and fellow pro-independence group Esquerra (ERC) to a moratorium on the useful life of slurry plants within the framework of the law against food waste.

ERC criticized Junts for 'no' vote, accusing their pro-independence rivals of acting against the interests of Catalans "out of an absurd tantrum."

Junts, ERC, and PP proposed to remove the debate and vote on the food waste law from the agenda, as they wanted their appeals against the vetoes resolved. 

The Board of Party Spokespeople ended up not taking any decision on the matter, meaning the discussion was been transferred to the plenary session of Congress.

The conservative PP called for the reduction of VAT on basic food products to 2%, while ERC and Junts requested a moratorium that would allow the useful life of slurry plants to be extended.

Incensed

All parties were incensed that the debate was forced through. 

PP spokesperson Miguel Tellado accused the speaker of violating the Constitution with an "unfair, illegal and unconstitutional" decision. Junts MP Josep Maria Cruset demanded that the debate be postponed, while ERC representative Teresa Jordà criticized the Spanish government for not allowing an amendment "in defense of the Catalan livestock sector" to be debated.

Patxi López, spokesperson for the Socialists, was against changing the agenda, and pointed out that the Congress Bureau approved the agenda without the opposition of the PP.

López added that allowing the modification of the plenary session agenda would imply that any group could eliminate initiatives that went against its objectives in each plenary session.

After the vote, Míriam Nogueras of Junts told the Spanish government that Junts are willing to go "to the end" to defend farmers. "No Spanish agency is above the farmers of Catalonia," she said.

Shortly afterwards, ERC MP Etna Estrems reproached Junts for voting "against the interests of the Catalans" and titled the move "an absurd tantrum." "We had managed to get the law to include recognition of incremental innovation that employs more than 7% of workers in an industry that is very typical of our country," she said.

Spain's Minister of Health, Mónica García, called the PP, Vox, and Junts "irresponsible" for having used "short-sighted" tactics to drop a law that should help in the event of a new pandemic.

She indicated that the executive will bring the topic back to Congress in the hopes that the parties that have rejected it will "rethink."