The Government and the PSC paved the way on Tuesday to negotiate the budgets. But now it needs to be paved. While with the commons the Catalan Executive already considers the agreement almost done, with the Socialists the talks are slower. This morning they have met again and despite the good predisposition of both, the Government has been surprised because, as reported, those of Salvador Illa have attended the meeting without “any economic proposal”.
Until this week, the meetings between the Generalitat and the PSC had been mainly technical. Councilors Laura Vilagrà (Presidency) and Natàlia Mas (Economy) came on Tuesday to give them a political character. The two leaders were also at the meeting today together with the general secretary of the Presidency, Núria Cuenca, and the general secretary of the Economy, Josep Maria Vilarrúbia. “The PSC has not contributed anything, only political lines”, argue government sources, including the convenience of the Hard Rock complex project.
In any case, the Catalan Socialists, with the spokesperson in Parliament, Alicia Romero, the deputy Jordi Riba, and the former Secretary General of the Economy and former mayor of Vendrell, Martí Carnicer, at the head of the negotiations, have assured that in the next few hours they would send their economic proposals to the Catalan Executive. However, the PSC asks not to be in a hurry and prefers to be prudent before fully studying the documentation that the Government provided them two days before.
From the Generalitat they value, on the other hand, that Junts, with which a priori ERC sees a possible agreement further, put on the table a decalogue on the table, with measures such as the deflation of personal income tax, gradually eliminating the inheritance tax , improvements for subsidized schools or the creation of a specialized unit of the Mossos d’Esquadra.
With the commons, the Government has practically done the negotiation. They are making progress on sectoral issues, such as energy and housing, and today the president of the En Comú Podem parliamentary group, Jéssica Albiach, has reported on agreements on mobility.
The tables have turned. From asking for speed when Pere Aragonès ignored the Socialists when Junts was still in the Government, the PSC now prefers to be careful. The president hopes to have the budgets on track for the Executive Council to approve the draft next week, with the bridges of the Constitution and that of the Immaculate Conception in between, and thus be able to take the accounts to Parliament so that they can be processed. Aragonès was sure that the political formations with which the Republicans are negotiating “will not delay the agreement any longer than necessary and that they will put the interests of the country first.”
