The pact that PNV and PSOE signed on November 10 looks at the entire legislature, although it also sets milestones that must be met in the first half of the mandate and some objectives that must be met in a matter of months. The agreement, specifically, states that three of the transfers of the Statute of Gernika, still pending, must arrive within a period of three months, a commitment that becomes important on the eve of elections and to which the PNV gives absolute priority. The Jeltzales want to arrive with a satisfactory political background at the polls and are already putting pressure on the central government to achieve this.
The power to set the date of next spring’s elections falls to the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, who will decide in common agreement with his party. The wounds that the abrupt proposal of Imanol Pradales as a candidate for the PNV may have left will not be a problem. Urkullu is a party man and, as much as he would have wanted to continue one more term, he is already working for his formation and in favor of the aspirations of his replacement as head of the list.
The date, in any case, will be determined based on several circumstances. The first of them has to do with the electoral needs of the PNV, which must define the time it needs to make Pradales known beyond Bizkaia. The second circumstance is related to the baggage with which the PNV wants to arrive at the electoral event. Lehendakari Urkullu has sent Sabin Etxea a schedule with the milestones that he expects for the coming months: laws that he intends to approve, projects and initiatives of the Basque Government pending to be presented or commitments from the central Executive that could be fulfilled.
This is where the agreement signed for Sánchez’s investiture becomes important, a pact that includes, among other commitments, that of “completing the present self-government – ??the Statute of Gernika – with the transfer to Euskadi of the powers still pending within the non-extendable period. of two years.” Likewise, the agreement “prioritizes” the transfer, within a period of three months, of three transfers among the more than 25 that must change hands.
The first of them is the Railways, which will result in the transfer to the Basque Government of the Cercanías lines that Renfe still manages: three lines in the metropolitan area of ??Bilbao; a narrow gauge between Bilbao and Balmaseda; and another commuter train in Gipuzkoa. The transfer has its impact, although the main suburban sections and the Bilbao metro are already managed by Basque institutions.
The second transfer that should be carried out imminently is that of the homologation and validation of foreign titles. The agreement states that the means “to standardize and declare the equivalence of academic degrees obtained within the framework of foreign higher education systems” will be transferred. In this case, the practical objective is very specific: to alleviate the shortage of toilets, a problem that affects half of Europe and that has been felt in Basque healthcare. In parallel to this measure, the parties in the Basque Government, the PNV and the PSE, have just approved a new Public Health law that includes, as an extraordinary provision, the “exemption from the nationality requirement” in access to the Basque Service of health.
The third transfer that should arrive has to do with various phases of the migrant reception system. Although the system depends on the central Executive, the Basque Government provides resources and attention to migrants through structures that it has organized to alleviate the limitations of the model. The objective is to take charge of the reception from the moment the migrants arrive in Euskadi and to organize this system autonomously and structurally.
Sources familiar with the negotiation point out that the arrival of the transfers within the indicated period is “a matter of political will” and that it is viable. For the PNV it is one of the key issues in this final sprint of the mandate. It would allow them to position themselves, in an electoral context, as a party attached to management and that negotiates in Madrid around issues, linked to self-government, that affect society on a daily basis. The fundamental aspect of this commitment, however, is seen more clearly if you turn it around: what happens if the transfers do not arrive as agreed? It would mean showing that the recently signed agreement could become a dead letter, as happened last term. The PNV cannot allow it. And the top Jeltzal leaders have already notified the Government.
