It is not the first time that an agreement between the Catalan parties and the central government in matters of jurisdiction or resources ends up being extended to the rest of the autonomous communities, even though the spirit of the pacts sealed, by the sovereignty, of entry other than this one. Yesterday it happened again. The first vice-president of the Central Executive and head of the Treasury, María Jesús Montero, opened the door for the immigration powers that Junts has agreed to delegate to the Generalitat to also reach other autonomous communities.
“Everything that has been agreed with the Catalan formations is perfectly replicable in the rest of the autonomous communities under common regime”, pointed out the socialist leader in a forum organized by Ser in Seville. With the transfer of Rodalies, the minimum vital income (IMV) or the remission of part of the regional debt, the same has already happened. In any case, JxCat’s intention – as has happened to Esquerra on other occasions – with the negotiation was to leave behind the coffee for everyone.
After the first few hours of silence and leaving the weight of the story, the party of Carles Puigdemont, the Spanish Government and the socialists have hurried to try to dilute the concessions to the post-convergents. This dynamic continued yesterday and not only Montero made considerations in this regard.
The Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, emphasized that migration policy is “European” and that it must be done in accordance with community guidelines. “With all clarity, migration policy is a European policy and therefore the guidelines come from Europe”, he asserted. “From here on, who exercises the competence is important, but it must be within the guidelines set by the European migration pact and the guidelines of the European Commission”, added the minister just before meeting with the president of the National Court, Ramón Navarro.
The head of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, Elma Saiz, for her part, emphasized that the delegation of powers in matters of immigration will be done “within the constitutional framework”.
On the other hand, another socialist leader, Emiliano García-Page, president of the Board of Castilla-La Mancha, as is usual, was the discordant note in relation to the agreements reached with JxCat. It already happened with the investiture. “If Vox asked for it, everyone would shout to the heavens”, he said to express his displeasure at the delegation of powers to the Catalan Administration.
And if a few weeks ago Junts was the one that brought out the colors in Esquerra for having talked about the integral transfer of Rodalies – a slogan that the Catalan Executive still wields – or asked about the fine print of the agreement that Pedro Sánchez and Pere Aragonès closed for the transfer of the IMV… now it is the republicans who point out that there is nothing written about the delegation of immigration powers to the Generalitat. From the Government and from the formation of Oriol Junqueras they point out that what is there is a “declaration of intentions” that will have to be substantiated in the drafting of an organic law in which they will have something to say, according to they were told by Bolaños, whom the leaders of ERC rushed to call to ask for an explanation of what had been agreed with Junts in exchange for their support for the decrees.
“He confirmed to me that it’s not a transfer”, highlighted yesterday the Councilor of the Presidency, Laura Vilagrà, in statements to RAC1, although the post-convergents have talked about delegation all the time and do not hide that it is a political pact. In this sense, Moncloa has also emphasized that this is a delegation and not a transfer of powers, and that they will continue to be owned by the State.
These criticisms of the republicans and the fact that from ERC they are looking to associate them with the ultra-right Aliança Catalana, a party that heads the Consistory of Ripoll with Sílvia Orriols, irritated the leaders of Junts, who criticized the republicans who “despise” the delegation of powers to the Generalitat.
In this sense, the spokesperson and vice-president of the post-convergents, Josep Rius, recalled that the Left group in Parliament voted a few months ago against the Catalan Executive taking on these powers. “Giving up immigration powers is giving up governing,” replied Rius to Vilagrà.
Today Junts will predictably validate the holding of a convention on migration in the second half of the year.
