european union

Multinational companies, railway operators, port authorities and government representatives met in the European Parliament to demand a boost of goods transportation by rail in Europe. They are pushing for the use of longer and heavier trains, able to transport more goods at a lower cost, with the consequent increase in competitiveness. These trains would circulate along specific corridors, such as the Mediterranean Railway Corridor, which will link the Gibraltar area with Central and Northern Europe passing through Spain’s Mediterranean ports and main industrial centres. The lobby organising the event, FERRMED, complained about the absence of representatives from the Spanish Government’s train operators.

The number of people unemployed and registered as such by the end of February at the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) increased by 3,359 people compared to the January figures. This is the lowest unemployment increase registered in the month of February in the last six years. In total, there were 661,176 people in Catalonia who were without a job and were looking for a new one. This sets a new historical record, with 23,228 more people unemployed than a year ago, representing a 3.62% increase. In the whole of Spain, unemployment increased by 59,444 people in February and for the first time the number of people officially registered as jobseekers topped 5 million individuals. Within the last 12 months, unemployment in Spain increased by 328,124 individuals, 6.96% more than those registered in February 2012.

A month ago, the Catalan Government issued a preliminary deficit figure for last year of 2.3%. Now, the Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, has corrected this and issued “a more precise figure, although not definitive yet”, which represents having undertaken an adjustment of €3.3 billion in a single year. The Catalan Government was supposed to meet a deficit target of 1.5% in 2012, a figure imposed by the Spanish Executive and considered too strict by Mas-Colell, since it is not proportional to the Catalan Executive’s share of public spending. For 2013, the Spanish Government is imposing an even stricter 0.7% deficit target. Mas-Colell has been repeating that it is “irrational” and needs to be changed.

Andreu Mas-Colell, the Catalan Finance Minister, has sent a letter to the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn, to denounce the fact that the Spanish Government is proportionally imposing much stricter deficit target on the Autonomous Communities than that of the Spanish Executive, obliging them to implement a much larger and faster adjustment. In 2013, the Spanish Government allowed itself a 3.8% deficit target and imposed an objective of 0.7% on the Autonomous Communities. In Spain regional governments manage 36% of the total public spending, including the main public services such as healthcare, education and social affairs. The Catalan Government manages an even larger share, as it has more devolved powers.

On Monday the Spanish Minister for the Economy, Luís de Guindos, stated that Spain might internally redistribute its total deficit target among the different government levels in order to give more breathing space to the Autonomous Communities, which have been taking on a large part of the budget adjustment. However, the following day, the Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, ruled out this possibility if Brussels does not give greater flexibility to Spain and increase its total deficit target for 2013. On Wednesday, after the contradictory messages, the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, confirmed Montoro’s approach. In 2013, Spain has been given a total deficit target of 4.5%: 3.8% is for the Spanish Government (responsible for 50% of public spending) and 0.7% is for the Autonomous Communities (responsible for almost 40%).

The Catalan Government criticised the Spanish Executive’s obstacles to Catalonia’s own external relations action, as “in a globalised world” this “is not a caprice”, but essential to be recognised at an international level and to attract foreign investment. The Catalan Minister for the Presidency, in charge of External Relations, Francesc Homs, criticised the Spanish Government’s “old-fashioned” way of understanding diplomacy and gave the example of spending in 2012 “€330,000 on cutlery and table cloths”. Homs emphasised the main commercial focus of Catalonia’s external offices and their “modesty”. The Catalan Government has a total of 5 political representation offices – including for the European Union – and 34 commercial offices.

The Catalan Government has been insisting on the need to internally redistribute deficit objectives in Spain, splitting them in a fairer way in order to better pair the responsibility of the management of basic services with their share of Spain’s total deficit target. Currently, the Spanish Government is keeping most of the deficit allowed by the European Union for itself, despite the fact that it only represents 50% of Spain’s total public spending, and it has forced regional and local governments to a Draconian budget adjustment. The European Parliament asked EU Member States to internally split deficit targets in a fair way for the benefit of the public services aimed at the citizens. Now, the Spanish Ministry for the Economy, Luis de Guindos, talked about distributing deficit targets “equitably”, in front of the European Commissioner for Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn.

If the Spanish Government had honoured its legal commitments and did not “centrifuge the deficit” towards the Autonomous Communities, the Catalan Government would have ended 2012 with a deficit of 1.53%, according to the Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell. Instead, the Catalan Government had a deficit of 2.3%, 0.8 percentage points higher than the 1.5% deficit target. In any case, Catalonia’s deficit still decreased from 3.99% in 2011 to 2.3% last year, a reduction representing €3.48 billion, despite the recession, the consequent drop in tax collection and paying €1.72 billion in debt interest. In the last 2 years, the Catalan Government has reduced its expenditure by €4.2 billion, representing a daily reduction of €5.7 million.

The Spanish Government is keeping most of the 4.5% public deficit allowed to the entire Spanish public sector in 2013 for itself, despite managing only 50% of the total public spending. It has allowed itself a 3.8% deficit while it has imposed a 0.7% target on the regional governments, which manage almost 40% of the public spending including basic services such as healthcare and education. The European Parliament report indirectly asks Madrid to relax the Autonomous Communities’ deficit targets according to the basic services they provide. In addition, it also states that regional governments should have greater fiscal capacities and depend less on central government transfers. Furthermore, the report asks “some member states” to eliminate the ministries whose powers have been devolved and to “reduce unnecessary defence expenditures”.

The former President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has collected the ‘Premi Internacional Catalunya’, a prestigious prize recognising individuals who have greatly contributed to the development of cultural, scientific and human values around the world with their work. In the award ceremony held in the Palace of the Catalan Government, in Barcelona, Lula da Silva has asked Catalans and Europeans “to fight to guarantee the Welfare State”, which was achieved with so much effort. He also praised Catalonia as “a moral and political model for all democratic people” and “a world symbol of the fight for freedom and social progress”. The award was announced in April but the ceremony was postponed due to Lula da Silva’s recovery process after he suffered from cancer.

The parties supporting the current school model, representing 80% of the new Catalan Parliament, and Catalonia’s School Council – with all the stakeholders – have met to decide upon a consensual answer to the Spanish Government’s Education Reform relegating the Catalan language and centralising competence. The meeting ended with a consensual decision to stick to the current Catalan Education Law if the Spanish Executive does not change the spirit of its reform and continues to insist on breaking up the school model that has been in place for more than 30 years. Cancelling the linguistic immersion model would mean splitting Catalan society into two language communities, which is absolutely not acceptable to the wide majority of Catalans. The current model has been validated twice by the Spanish Constitutional Court and is based on Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy which was approved via referendum.

At the end of October, the Catalan Government had a 1.17% deficit, representing a difference of €2.34 billion between revenue and spending. It is a significant reduction compared to last September, when the deficit reached 1.26% of the Catalan GDP. Furthermore, it also represents a 23% reduction compared to the first ten months of 2011, when there was a €3.05 billion deficit. The improvement is mostly due to an increase in revenue. By the end of 2012, the Catalan Government is obliged to meet a 1.5% deficit target.

The general strike called at European Union level to protest the austerity measures and support a new strategy to deal with the economic crisis will also affect Catalonia, 11 days before the Catalan elections. Despite coinciding with the official election campaign, unions in Catalonia called for a general strike, arguing that the date had been decided at EU level. The Catalan Government and the main unions have reached an agreement on the minimum services to be provided. Public transportation will work at 33% of its capacity at rush hours, but not at all for the rest of the day. Emergency rooms will work as normal and hospitals will continue to offer indispensable treatments and perform scheduled surgeries. Schools will have the presence of between 17% and 33% of the staff guaranteed. Catalan Police will deploy 9,000 officers to avoid any violence.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, held a debate in Brussels, at an event organised by the think tank Friends of Europe. Mas praised Catalonia’s European and democratic traditions. He talked about the self-determination process he is leading, which will be “scrupulously democratic”, “absolutely peaceful”, “demonstrably transparent”, “with an ample majority” and “within the framework of the European Union”. “What I want for Catalonia is for it to be its own State that must, necessarily, share interdependencies within a more united and stronger Europe”, he stated. If Catalonia could not remain in the EU, he would still ask the Catalan people about their future, “as it is the most important thing”. The opposition parties criticised Mas’ trip before the start of the electoral campaign.

The report, published by the British Parliament, has been drafted by a senior expert on the enlargement of the European Union, Honorary Director-General of the European Commission and Senior Adviser at the European Policy Centre. The arguments in the document also apply to the Catalan case. The text states that “for practical and political reasons [Scottish people] could not be asked to leave the EU and apply for readmission” since “having been members of the EU for 40 years, [they] have acquired rights as European citizens”. The analysis concludes that “negotiations on the terms of membership would take place in the period between the referendum and the planned date of independence” and that “the EU would adopt a simplified procedure for the negotiations”.