The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, met with the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, in Brussels. Mas told the press that Schulz had stated he would “work hard” to enable the use of Catalan at plenary sessions. However, Schulz did not confirm neither “any date” nor can he “guarantee that he would achieve it, as it does not only depend on him”, explained Mas.
The Catalan Government has modified the work schedule and funds for Barcelona’s metro lines L9 and L10 in order to connect the Catalan capital with Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 of El Prat Airport by 2014. Once finished, L9 will be the longest metro line in Europe.
Representatives from the Quebec Government have organised sessions to advertise job possibilities in their region. They are mainly looking for workers with technical skills, mainly in the sector of civil engineering, healthcare, and IT. The Catalan Government reached an agreement with Quebec to strengthen the professional mobility of Catalan workers. The participation of Catalan companies in the plans for economic development of the Quebecois Government is also promoted.
The Japanese multinational company has chosen Catalonia’s capital for a new international sales centre serving the entire European Union. The centre will create 300 high-qualified jobs by 2013, when it will be fully operational. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, unveiled the new centre, while he pointed out the strong business relationship between Japan and Catalonia. He also emphasised the “business friendly policy” of the Catalan Government.
The Catalan Government has drafted a plan regarding public employees for the 2012-2014 period. The aim is to reduce public spending in order to meet the deficit targets by reorganising civil servants, including their working conditions. The plan foresees the possibility of a reduction in salaries and working hours, as well as making their working conditions, tasks, and location more flexible. 6,800 temporary workers will have their hours reduced by 15% from April 1st. Unions have criticised the plan. However, the Catalan Vice President has asked unions to avoid exaggerating the issue and creating problems.
The Catalan Ministry of Finance has confirmed the figures released on Thursday by the party running Catalonia’s Government. The drug prescription fee would add €180 million to the budget, and will also save money due to its dissuasive impact. The symbolic tourist tax, which will be implemented from November, would also bring in €60 million. The remaining €60 million will come from other taxes and public fees.
Barcelona was declared the Mobile World Capital last summer, and the organising city of the Mobile World Congress until at least 2018. Being the Mobile World Capital means that Barcelona aims to become one of the main world centres for the mobile industry. Furthermore, several projects will be based in the Catalan capital, such as a Mobile World Hub. A foundation has been created to promote these projects and attract investments. It is funded with € 30 million each from Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Government and the Spanish Government, and it is open to the private sector.
In 2009, Catalonia financed € 16.41 billion of services and investments in the rest of Spain, which represents 8.4% of Catalonia’s GDP. According to the Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, out of every euro paid by Catalan citizens with their taxes, 43 cent is invested outside of Catalonia. The Catalan Government released the latest data regarding the fiscal relationship between Catalonia and Spain, corresponding to the 2006-2009 period, known as “the fiscal balances”. Mas-Colell underlined the “fiscal deficit” Catalonia suffers from, which is “unsustainable” and harms Catalan citizens and the country’s economy.
The Catalan Government had already approved a 3% reduction of public salaries during the current year, which will now be increased to 5%. However, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, explained that the measure would be cancelled if the Spanish Government approved a similar reduction, in order not to harm public employees with two salary reductions. The People’s Party supports Mas but the Left-Wing opposition parties have criticised the measure and have said that there are other ways to reduce the deficit. Mas demanded that the Spanish Government include the funds it legally owes Catalonia in its budget for 2012 which would avoid further cutbacks.
Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that both circuits will share one Grand Prix from 2013. That year the race would be held in the Catalunya Circuit and València would not host any F-1 race. In 2014, it would be the other way around. Due to the economic crisis, the Catalan Government proposed this solution to the Valencian Executive in May 2011, but they refused. Now, Valencia’s Government has confirmed the agreement, which still needs some details to be confirmed such as the date in which it will be held. Catalonia has host a Formula-1 Grand Prix since 1991 in a racing circuit in Greater Barcelona. València organised its own Grand Prix from 2008 onwards.
“Absurd, useless, dreadful, and inopportune” is what Spain’s Finance Minister thinks about the Catalan Government’s proposal to internally split the 5.8% deficit target for 2012 more proportionally. The Catalan Government has asked for the Autonomous Communities’ deficit to increase from 1.5% to 1.7% of Spain’s GDP, and the deficit generated by the services directly managed by the Spanish Government to fall from 4% to 3.8%. The Spanish Government believes that it has already undertaken severe austerity measures and that now it is the turn of the Autonomies.
The Catalan Government considers the Spanish Government to be “disloyal” for unilaterally setting the new deficit objectives and for not allowing the same degree of flexibility to the autonomous communities, who manage all basic services. The Autonomies’ new deficit target has been set at 1.5% while that of the Spanish Government is set at 4%. Mariano Rajoy has announced that Spain will have a total public deficit of 5.8% of its GDP, and not the 4.4% previously agreed with the rest of the European Union Member States. Rajoy has argued that, with a recession coming, the situation has changed and the stability pact foresees changing the targets.
Residents in Catalonia will be able to buy treasury bonds from the Catalan Government in April for the fourth time since 2010. The money will be used for interest repayments, in May, of a former bonds auction. The exact interest rate or the amounts to be raised are still unknown but the Catalan Government’s Deputy Finance Minister has said they hope to get “as much as possible”.
In 1939, Franco’s troops entered Catalonia and plundered most of the official documents of the Catalan Government, institutions, political parties, trade unions, and cultural organisations. In addition, they also took personal documents belonging to Catalan personalities. In total more than 300,000 documents were sent to an archive in Salamanca. They were processed and the information they contained used by the Fascist regime’s repression in the post-war years. The documents are known as the ‘Salamanca Papers’. The Spanish Government ordered the return of some of the ‘Salamanca Papers’ in 1995, but political opposition has delayed the process until now. There are still around 300 boxes of documents in Salamanca.
The plan has a €420 million euro budget for 2012 and aims to foster quality education by changing the current system based on subsidising training courses offered by job-placement organisations and municipalities for another model based on framework contracts and grouping the actors involved. The Catalan Deputy Minister for Employment and Labour Relations explained that the new plan would include specific policies aimed at young people, the disadvantaged, as well as for the sectors and territories hardest hit by the economic crisis.