Mas blames the Spanish government for the severe austerity measures in Catalonia

Barcelona (ACN).- On Monday, the Catalan President, Artur Mas, blamed the Spanish Government for the harsh austerity measures that his government “is forced” to implement in Catalonia to meet Spain’s “unfair” regional deficit targets. In a statement in Parliament, Mas said that Catalonia has been making “a very important effort” to reduce spending but warned that “there are limits”. The Catalan President explained that it will be “impossible” to meet the targets “without seriously affecting some basic elements of the welfare state”.

The Catalan President said that the Spanish Government will be responsible for any austerity measures that affect the core of the welfare state. Mas urged all the political parties and autonomous communities in Spain to unite against the “unfair” regional deficit targets imposed from Madrid. Mas regretted that the Spanish Government hasn’t been flexible with the regions despite the fact that Brussels gave Madrid more time to meet its own deficit target. According to the Catalan president the autonomous communities – responsible for spending in key areas such as Health and Education - are assuming the burden of the cuts while the central government keeps the extra 20 billion euros that the Eurogroup allowed it spend. “There are no negotiations”, regretted Mas, saying that the Spanish government “keeps all” the benefits to be “politically calm” while the regions are being “suffocated”. The Catalan President reminded Parliament that the central government is acting “disloyally and unfairly” and warned that the situation next year could even be worst. The regional deficit for 2013 will be 0,7%, which means, according to Mas, that Catalonia will have to implement “nonsense and very difficult” austerity cuts. Mas is lobbying for a cross-party agreement against these deficit targets, arguing that Spain should share the costs of the crisis more fairly. However, he admitted that not meeting the deficits is not an option either, because the only way of financing Catalonia right now is through the Regional Liquidity Fund. Mas said that Catalonia had “the right and the necessity” to ask for this money. Catalonia asked the fund for 5 billion euros, and will have to pay interest of about 300 million and about 1 billion from 2015. “This is not a present, they are asking us to pay three times as much as what the Spanish state has to pay for financing”, he said. Mas admitted these are “very difficult conditions” in which to get money, but they are “what they are, and there is no choice”. Mas also said the problem is that the European Union is “excessively” focused on austerity rather than on growth. The Catalan President regretted the fact that no one is really opposing these policies, not even France. In fact, Artur Mas admitted that he will have to apply for a second loan next year to pay the providers. According to him the “political consequences” of having to ask for the money are “much less than the political costs of doing nothing, because the consequence of not controlling the deficit is to disappear”. Mas was unable to say whether Catalonia will be meeting its deficit target this year, although he suggested that it will be very difficult for all the regions and the whole of Spain.