The Generalitat is going to propose to the central Government a model of a unique regional financing system for Catalonia similar to that of the Basque concert but with the difference that it introduces contributions to solidarity to the rest of the communities through a “territorial rebalancing fund.” The proposal is that the Generalitat will collect 100% of the taxes with potential income of 52,000 million, double what it is now.
Once you have all the money, you will make two transfers: one to pay for State services in Catalonia and another to a solidarity fund with the rest of Spain. Until now the Generalitat collects around 5% but with the new proposal it would be 100%.
“What we propose is a paradigm shift,” said the Minister of Economy, Natàlia Mas, today during the presentation of the 85-page model that they will send to the Government. She explained it at the press conference after the Executive Council meeting where the proposal was validated. With data from 2021 (the last year settled), the revenue collected was 25,616 million, around half of the new model proposal.
But he has specified that the big difference between the proposal that the Generalitat has defined and the Basque concert is that it barely incorporates any funds to the territorial rebalancing of other communities. “In the Basque model, the contribution to other communities is almost non-existent,” she noted.
The transfer to the State proposed by the Generalitat is for the central government’s own expenses such as “defense policies or the administration of justice.” With the new model, the Generalitat wants to reduce the fiscal deficit, which on average is equivalent to 8% of GDP, according to data from the Government itself. Mas has said that the “fiscal deficit is disproportionate and persistent.”
In the proposal there is no quantification of how much the contribution could be to the State and the rest of the communities. “They are metrics subject to political negotiation,” she added.
The councilor has assured that the proposal is viable within the Spanish constitutional order and has added that the Institut d’Estudis d’Autogovern has prepared a report that guarantees its legality. She, moreover, has assured that the proposal they present today is similar and comparable to what exists in other autonomous communities.
