The Basque Government is preparing a proposal on the transfer of the economic regime of Social Security in Euskadi, which he plans to send to the Central Executive before the end of this year, a transfer that valued at around 12,000 million eurosThis amount corresponds to the annual cost of paying pensions and benefits in Biscay, Gipuzkoa and Álava.
The spokesperson for the Basque Government, María Ubarretxena, said on Tuesday that she was working “discreetly” on the development of a proposal to transfer to Euskadi the management of the economic regime of Social Security, which she estimates at 12 billion euros, and that They will be sent before the end of 2024 to the executive of Pedro Sánchez.
In his speech at the press conference held after the meeting of the Government Council, Ubarretxena stressed that they are trying to work and advance “discreetly” in a first proposal for this transferwhose “orientation” they intend to transfer before the end of the year.
As you explained, everyone assumes that it is “a complex transfer” that they want to “negotiate with the utmost discretion” and have assured that, as soon as they have “a formalized proposal with all the data”, they will make it known publicly. Initially, the objective is to manage the 12 billion that the annual cost of paying pensions and benefits in the three Basque provinces. In addition, 6.24% of the current total expenditure of the Spanish government on civil servants, buildings and others should be added to this, as in any transfer of powers.
María Ubarretxena recalled that the Statute of Gernika, in its Fifth Provision, provides that “the Mixed Transfer Commission created for the application” of the statutory text “will establish the appropriate agreements, through which the Autonomous Community will assume the management of the economic regime of social security within the framework of its unitary character and the respect for the principle of solidarity, according to the procedures, deadlines and commitments which, for orderly management, are contained in these agreements”.
Historical claim
The transfer of the economic regime of Social Security is the most relevant of the transfers in progress, not only because of its economic value but also because it is a historical demand of the Basque Nationalist Party. Lehendakari Imanol Pradales also expressed to Pedro Sánchez – during their meeting last Friday in Madrid – the interest of manage passive employment policies (unemployment benefits) and Fogasa.
The Statute of Gernika provides that Euskadi functions as an ATM, As with the Minimum Vital Income (IMV), which does not regulate pensions but is the manager of the region, which does not violate the principles of interterritorial solidarity and what is called the “single fund”.
Next week, the negotiations between María Ubarretxena and the Secretary of State for Territorial Policy, Arcadi España, will continue in the form of Preparatory meeting of the first bilateral political commission that Pradales and Sánchez accepted at the end of October. This promotion and negotiation forum will meet at least once every six months, in the presence of both presidents, recalled Ubarretxena.
