The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, formed this Wednesday in Madrid – a few weeks late due to the priority given to flood management in Valencia at the end of October – the new bilateral cooperation commission to accelerate the transfers pending the 1979 Statute, which the Basque party puts at 29. In reality, it was a body planned since 1987 and which had never been activated, not even then of the last legislature. when Iñigo Urkullu put it on the table. There is consensus that all transfers, including the economic management of social security, will be completed within approximately one year. As a nod, Pradales will return to Vitoria with two agreements already concluded in his bag, coastal management and the cinema support fund.
The intention is that in the coming weeks, on December 16, the body legally competent to sign off on transfers, known as the Joint Commission, will meet and the state will now transfer these first two matters. In the first case, it is an issue that is also being negotiated with Galicia, not without controversy. Euskadi aspires to manage authorizations of all types on beaches, pontoons or anchorage areas, such as reception establishments or beach bars, for example. But the possibility of creating cycle paths or contributing to the energy transition with new infrastructure on the coast, in particular wind turbines, was also highlighted. Concerning the cinema support fund, it is a state item which in 2016 reached 60 million. The Economic Agreement regime now means that the autonomous community assumes the equivalent of 6.24% of this money to exercise these powers, which will complement those already exercised by the Basque Government in the cultural field. “This is the last piece of the puzzle,” said the Lehendakari, who believes that it will allow special support for audiovisual production in Basque. It turns out that just a few weeks ago a tax agreement was reached that will also allow Euskadi to improve incentives to attract filming.
The Pradales government also wants to close half a dozen files that are already very advanced in 2024. Maritime rescue appears on this list as the most relevant file. This would be the Regional Executive assuming the functions and means of the Sasemar entity, including a base in Bilbao, boats, tugboats or even a helicopter that operates on the Basque coast although it has its heliport in Santander. Meteorology is also on the table. Euskadi has already created its own parallel agency in Aemet, called Euskalmet. But it would be necessary to agree either on the transfer of current state resources, or on a compensatory financial allocation, according to the working documents manipulated by the Basque party.
Pradales attached great importance to the issue of migration policies. A small transfer was already carried out a few months ago and now the new Basque Government demands a change in immigration regulations and new functions in terms of work authorization and integration. He also wants an “orderly” distribution of arrivals – Pradales is particularly concerned about the “imbalance” with minors – and that the situation of Euskadi as a “northern border” be taken into consideration. In Irún-Hendaya, returns have been rapid in recent years, as have the deaths of migrants in transit.
By 2025, the most sensitive points would remain. This includes Social Security, a matter never before transferred to an autonomous community and which still today raises doubts in certain political sectors due to the alleged breakdown of the single fund, which is expressly prohibited in the Statute itself. Euskadi estimates the pension expenses it could manage at $12 billion, although the amounts and legislation would remain in the hands of the state.
This competition is associated with passive employment policies (unemployment benefits) and the expansion of the capacities of the Basque Labor Inspectorate, which now coexists with that of the State. The PNV also wants ports and airports of general interest, but here the PSE-EE, partner of Euskadi and which directs Transport, has turned its nose up. Lower category seaports are already under autonomous management and the Basque Government has had the capacity to appoint its trusted people alongside those of the State, many of whom are former PNV officials. The Constitution guarantees that infrastructures of general interest are not transferred and voices are raised to warn that they could only be transferred if they are first degraded, which would harm their competitiveness. The same thing happens with Aena airports. In Catalonia, it is a framework of two networks but the main one, that of Josep Tarradellas-El Prat, remains in the hands of the State.
This Wednesday was the third meeting between Sánchez and Pradales in less than six months. The President first visited Ajuria Enea – he is only the third to do so – and then there was a second meeting in Madrid as part of the Chief Executive’s tour with all regional leaders. Basque sources do not deny having found a certain harmony during this period. He was more reluctant to meet Urkullu Sánchez and did not even respond to his letters. The bilateral commission model seeks to be a permanent working space between the central government and the Basque government. It is also hoped that this will be the forum in which possible jurisdictional conflicts will be resolved to avoid past disputes before the Constitutional Court.
The actual commission began at 5:30 p.m., but a few minutes before Sánchez and Pradales could leave on their own. Subsequently, the two teams joined, led by Minister Ángel Víctor Torres on one side and Councilor María Ubarretxena on the other. The Secretaries of State Arcadi España, of Territorial Policy, Pilar Cancela, of Migration, Fernando Mariano Sampedro, of the European Union, as well as other senior officials, also represented the Spanish government. Alongside Pradales and Ubarretxena were the Vice President and Minister of Culture, Ibone Bengoetxea, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Mikel Iriondo, and the Director of Self-Government, Begoña Pérez de Eulate, among others. At 7:30 p.m., the hearings had not yet started. However, while meeting with the president, a message was published on his behalf on the social network X, commenting on the removal of Benito Lertxundi’s music, which was later deleted.
Pradales, during his appearance before the media, which began in Basque, also announced other commitments apart from the statutory commitments. He announced, for example, that a summit between France, Spain and Portugal would take place in Bilbao “at the beginning of 2025” or that he aimed to take the definitive step to create an Atlantic macro-region in April. Spain has also committed to lobbying Ireland and other countries to promote this project under the current Polish presidency, which Pradales said would already favor the creation of macro-regions. Likewise, Pradales claims to have the “commitment” of the State to promote the official status of Basque in European institutions. “We will be demanding,” Pradales said of the pacts.
On the other hand, Lehendakari assured that he intended to travel to Santander on December 13 for the conference of regional presidents called by Sánchez. He indicated that he likes to be present in all instances where he can represent the interests of Euskadi. Of course, he warned that this same day had an agenda in Vitoria, the last control session of the Basque Parliament in 2024. He hoped to be able to adapt the schedules.
