The Minister of Finance and Public Administration of the Extremadura government pointed out to elEconomista.es that this is the first time that a president of a Spanish government has tried provide constitutional accommodation to aspirations for financial independence of a territory through the Concert in Catalonia.
He acknowledges that the demands of some political parties in Catalonia “are not new”, but “it is the first time that a president of the Spanish government who has sworn an oath to the Constitution and presides over a model of territorial organization” accepts the demands of a part of Catalan society. He emphasizes that “The President must protect the taxation of all Spaniards“and the management of sufficient resources to provide skills.
Elena Manzano was a member of the Commission of experts for the reform of local financing, in addition to being an advisor, she is a lawyer of recognized prestige and professor at the University of Extremadura, already at that date they focused on the revision of the regional regime, generating an asymmetry in the territories, so he defended that the provincial regimes also participate in the Treasury.
This is why he now stresses that “what already exists in the Basque Country or Navarre cannot claim to justify” this Catalan concert. Because it is a attack on the Constitution and the laws that govern financing and autonomy statutes. This concert cannot have a constitutional place.
Faced with this situation, he affirms that the Extremadura government is “perplexed” because it cannot be assessed the possibility that “this model is generalizable without constitutional support and without harm to its Treasury”, about which he stated that “the biggest loser is the State, because this measure does not concern a struggle for territories, they are not territorial positions, but when the president and the government have accepted this model They are directly attacking the Treasury“
In this way, there is a risk that it will disappear and with it the resources of the State which will not be able to meet the needs of citizens,”The resources do not come from an autonomous community, they come from the public treasury“and although the State has increased the transfer of taxes to the territories, it remains the holder of personal income tax, VAT or special taxes. He recognizes that even if there is now a 50% transfer of taxes to the Communities, this agreement would mean “a “global transfer” of all tax figures.
According to Manzano, this measure goes against the Constitution, the framework that the Spanish gave themselves in 1978, because it threatens against equality and solidarity of territoriesand all citizens have the right to access services under equal conditions, so everything that has been built “is at risk.”
President Maria Guardiola announced in the meeting with all the regional presidents of the PP that they would reach “a common position”, defending the Constitution and the legal framework, something that this concert resulting from the PSOE pact in Catalonia and ERC “does not make room for”.
This measure does not only affect Extremadura, it “affects the entire nation” and all the territories as a whole, because by attacking the Treasury, the State would no longer have income to ensure its powers. Let us remember that the cost is not the same in all territories, which is why the State must guarantee that all citizens have equal access.
Manzano claims the financing of autonomywho feed “on part of the tax transfer and also on their own taxes”, financial sufficiency must therefore be guaranteed by the Spanish State.
In the autonomies there is a problem, Manzano recognizes, that they are “underfunded”, but he called for it to be done in the instance where it should be debated, in the Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy, stressing that the debate must be multilateral, because “There are no territories that give and others that receive, because taxes are paid by the citizens and not by the territories.”
As an example, he spoke of a citizen who can live in Catalonia and receive income from his activities in other regions, his income is generated outside his region while personal income tax is paid at the place of residence.
The same thing happens with the electricity tax, transferred 100% to the territories, calculated on the place of consumption and not on its production, remembering that Extremadura is the region that produces the most energy.
Solidarity
According to Elena Manzano, solidarity should not be confused with sufficiencybecause it is the State which must guarantee the Constitutional distribution resources allocated to skills, because “there is no autonomy without means.” He says that the Constitutional Court already imposes responsibility on the State so that “territories that start from an unfavorable situation receive funding to converge with the rest.” And this is what happened in Extremadura, knowing that the lack of connections and infrastructure has reduced growth.
And on this point he criticized the Territorial compensation fundwhich only has 432 million euros, and even though the President of the Government has announced that he will double this amount, this amount is still insufficient. Recalling that the only Fund included in the Spanish Constitution in its article 158.
