The President of the Valencian Government, Carlos Mazonannounced this Friday four agreements with Pedro Sanchez after the first bilateral meeting between the two: aid to Ford, water for the Albufera of Valencia, creation of a commission to study the transfer of the Lady of Elche to this city and deployment of the so-called “LOSS Chip” .
However, the two leaders disagreed on the financing of autonomy, particularly with regard to the Catalan quotawhich Mazón even described as a “fiscal coup”.
During the press conference which followed the meeting, Carlos Mazón, however, adopted a more friendly tone than on other occasions. He said he told the president of the government that the tax agreement with Catalonia “is the worst opportunity for everyone” because it “breaks solidarity and equality.”
At this point, the head of the Consell showed satisfaction with Sánchez’s intention to address all issues related to financing in at the Tax and Financial Policy Council (CPFF) and at the Conference of Presidentseven if neither meeting has a date yet.
The Valencian president will demand in these forums a reform of the regional financing system, the establishment of a temporary leveling fund to compensate the most poorly financed autonomous communities and “minimization” of the debt.
In this regard, he denied a specific offer regarding a possible debt forgiveness of the Valencian Community and declared that this debate must take place at what he called “the table of all”.
For the head of the Consell, what is “urgent and priority” is the approval of a temporary leveling fund while the model is reformed and does not remove it from the debt, which he considers “bread for today ‘today and hunger for tomorrow’. “.
“We want to talk about all three things at the same time and at the table in front of everyone. That’s how things happen,” Mazón said.
“The Valencian Community is the least well financed,” denounced Mazón, before emphasizing that “needs must be exposed in front of everyone, without hiding anywhere or seeking privileges or blackmail.”
Mazón and Sánchez during their meeting this Friday in Moncloa
In this sense, he recalled that he had given to the President of the Central Executive a 92-page document which includes “56 reasons” why the Valencian Community “can no longer wait” for the reform of the regional financing system.
This report demands urgent reform of the model and “immediate” approval of a fund around 1.7 billion per year, bringing under-resourced communities up to par with the average. On this question, as Mazón explained, he did not get a concrete answer from the president. “I forwarded it to him and he wrote it down,” he said.
Concerning the debt, the document considers that “any partial forgiveness of the debt which is not accompanied by a reform of the financing system is a patch that does not solve the problem“.
However, he adds that if the debt is canceled for “a certain autonomy”, the Valencian Community “cannot be less and we will demand the same treatment, with clear and fair criteria and without any compensation”.
Concerning the possibility of linking reforms of the financing system to tax cuts, President Mazón was more energetic. He defended the autonomy of the Valencian Community and described as “blackmail” the talk of resources for the autonomous communities in exchange for a “reduction of autonomy.”
Four chords
Mazón, who began his speech by highlighting the meeting points between the two leaders, said he was satisfied after the meeting. But “without naivety”, as he admitted, since he declared that it would not be the first time that the central government made a commitment and did not respect it.
Concretely, the head of the Regional Executive highlighted the four agreements and declared that none of them was “a joke”, because they were important advances for the Valencian territory.
Carlos Mazón at a press conference after the meeting with Pedro Sánchez this Friday in Moncloaonda of the meetings that Sánchez is holding with regional presidents
The first significant agreement was the creation of a technical commission responsible for studying the return of Lady of Elche to your city. The head of the Consell explained that technicians and archaeologists from both institutions will participate in this table to study “the possible return of the Lady, we will see if it will be temporary or even something more prolonged”.
The second meeting point with Sánchez was a summit to unblock the delivery of the necessary water to Lake Albufera, in Valencia, in exchange for the withdrawal of the appeal filed by the Generalitat Valenciana.
The third issue Sánchez committed to was approving more aid to Ford and the fourth, losing the chip.
“I am optimistic that their efforts will join those of the Generalitat and that there will perhaps be, I hope even soon, an extraordinary contribution from the government to Ford and that the two administrations will be able to help safeguard the potential of a strategic sector for all of Spain”, he declared during the press conference.
Files “under study”
On the other hand, Mazón explained that in four other requests, Pedro Sánchez’s response had been that they would study it.
Among them, depoliticization via the law of transfer between Tajo and the Segurathe launch of the drought tablean amendment to the law on late payments for Castellón ceramics and burying of roads Alfafarsince more than 40 people were killed by the train as it crossed the level. This was the first thing Mazón told Sánchez.
Mazón was summoned to Moncloa at 12:30 p.m. as part of the series of meetings that Sánchez is holding with regional presidents after agreeing with ERC on the tax agreement for Catalonia in exchange for the inauguration of Salvador Illa.
He also met this Friday with the presidents of the Region of Murcia, Fernando Lopez Mirasand Castile-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page.
