Bearing in mind that Pere Aragonès has tired of saying that his government’s objectives were to fulfill them beyond one legislature, it is not surprising that in the ERC’s program for the Catalan elections of May 12 there are surprises The agreed referendum, under the umbrella of a clarity agreement, and the unique funding for Catalonia are at the center. They are among the most significant proposals among the 500 included in the 170 pages of the document.
There are other noteworthy points, such as the creation of a language policy ministry to promote and defend Catalan, the transfer of all competences and resources for migration management, the creation of a virtual police station so that telematics can reporting cybercrimes, achieving 2% of the budget for Culture, or overturning the tax cut approved for gaming in 2014.
The program was presented by Deputy General Secretary Marta Vilalta and Senator Sara Bailac. It does not include any reference to a unilateral path to independence as in the approach presented for the February 2021 parliamentary elections, when a small margin was expected. In any case, unilateralism is an option that was diluted in subsequent ERC presentations.
The Republicans understand, as Vilalta explained, that with the amnesty on the verge of candy it is time for “the second phase of negotiation”, with a referendum agreed on the table.
With regard to singular financing, ERC conceives it while warning that “only Catalonia’s independence guarantees having all the tools at its disposal”. “We are clear about where we are going and what we need to achieve in the meantime. And this, in the meantime, necessarily requires unique funding,” the Republicans state in the text.
Aragonès spoke about it yesterday morning in a colloquium organized by the Table of the Third Social Sector. For the ERC president and candidate, only a funding system that allows Catalonia to collect and manage all the taxes it generates is ideal. Any other proposal is “flying pigeons”. These are the words with which he rejected the proposal of the PSC candidate, Salvador Illa, who is betting on funding based on the principle of ordinality contained in the 2006 Statute.
Aragonès’ idea is a system for the Generalitat to obtain the income from all the taxes, agreeing with the State on a contribution and establishing a solidarity quota. “We don’t want a coffee for everyone, which we would also have to agree with the autonomous communities governed by the PP and Catalonia would be left with the brown”, he concluded.
