mariano rajoy

The German Chancellor is “impressed” with Spain’s reforms. According to Angela Merkel, the reforms are headed “in the right direction”, they need to be pursued “at all government levels” and they will need “time to show their results”, “as it happened in Germany ten years ago” with their structural reforms. Angela Merkel met with the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Madrid, the day the European Central Bank announced it was buying sovereign bonds. Merkel stated that reforms have to continue “at all government levels”. The Chancellor also defended the European Union as a project guaranteeing peace and prosperity, and the Euro as “our common currency”.

The Spokesperson for the Catalan Government emphasised the money requested comes from Catalan taxpayers, since Catalonia pays €17 billion each year for services and investments in the rest of Spain. Nonetheless, the Catalan Executive stated it will meet the deficit targets and will follow the already approved austerity plan. The Spanish PM and leader of the People’s Party (PP) confirms it will “help Catalonia as we help the other Autonomous Communities”. However, the PP Spokesperson in Catalonia said the Catalan Government will have to accept whatever the conditions are. The Catalan Socialists want to know what the €5 billion will be spent on before supporting the decision. The Catalan Independence parties criticised the decision for having given away Catalonia’s autonomy.

Answering a letter from the Catalan President, the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, stated he would study the proposal voted by the Catalan Parliament which aims to reduce the solidarity contribution from Catalonia to the rest of Spain and have all taxes raised by a Catalan-run agency. However, Rajoy had previously stated this issue was out of discussion, especially in the current economic context. A vast majority of the Catalan Parliament considers that it is precisely due to the financial stress provoked by the crisis that it is urgent to debate the excessive transfer of revenues from Catalonia to the rest of Spain. The Spanish PM also stated he has agreed to meet with the Catalan President to discuss this proposal, but he expects to talk about many other issues.

The Spanish Congress has ratified a new austerity package this Thursday with 180 votes from People’s Party (PP), 131 votes against made up by the other parties and one abstention from the Unión del Pueblo Navarro (UPN). The new measures include the suspension of the Christmas bonus for public sector officials, an increase in VAT, and a reduction in unemployment benefit after the sixth month. The Spanish finance minister, Cristóbal Montoro, defended the measures on the grounds that they are "necessary sacrifices" to enable economic recovery and that "giving up is not recommended or possible". Various groups have protested against the measures, with over 80 demonstrations across the country.

President Artur Mas says Catalonia needs to come out of the crisis stronger and citizens should “come together” in the wake of new austerity measures announced this Wednesday by Spanish president Mariano Rajoy. The Catalan government spokesman, Francesc Homs, celebrated Rajoy’s decision to cut Spanish public workers salaries, several months after the same decision was implemented in Catalonia. However, he criticised the VAT rise. The Catalan minister for the Economy, Andreu Mas-Colell, said Madrid’s plan is “in line” with EU instructions but urged Rajoy to offer “some kind of compensation” to the autonomous communities because their expenditure won’t benefit from the VAT rise.

On Tuesday the Catalan Council for Constitutional Guarantees (CGE) declared that the Spanish Government decree cutting €3 billion in education does not respect 2 Constitution articles and 5 other articles from Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy, being thus unconstitutional and going beyond Madrid’s jurisdiction. The Catalan Government following the CGE’s unconstitutionality assessment decided to bring the education decree to the Constitutional Court(TC), as it did last week with Rajoy’s health decree. However, after the Spanish Government threatened to bring approved initiatives from the Catalan Executive to the TC, the Catalan Government decided to modify the decrees through dialogue and bring the decrees to the TC as a last option.

Aguirre, President of Madrid's regional government, asked to return healthcare, justice administration and education powers, which are managed by the Autonomous Communities, back to the Central Government. Prime Minister Rajoy, the leader of the People’s Party (PP) –Aguirre’s party–, stated that a debate about the Autonomous Community model is “out of the question”. Furthermore the PP’s Catalan leader defended the current model, as Catalonia “exerts its self-government as established in the Constitution”. Besides, the Catalan President told Aguirre to return the powers she does not want to manage, but to leave Catalonia aside. He added that the current model was designed “to dilute Catalonia and the Basque Country’s self-governance claims”.

There has been a unanimous call in Catalonia for greater flexibility of the deficit objectives applied to the Autonomous Communities for the current year. Every political party in Catalonia, including the People’s Party (PP), has asked the Spanish Government to provide more flexibility to the Autonomies, which manage 40% of Spain’s public spending and run basic Welfare State services. The Spanish Government has set a new deficit target of 5.8% of Spain’s GDP for 2012; internally, the Central Government allowed itself a deficit of 4% and ordered the Autonomies to commit to a deficit of 1.5%. Some Catalan parties have said that the Spanish Government has double standards.

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.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has offered Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy; cooperation regards Spain’s structural reforms, such as the Labour Market reform. Mas has not put prior conditions on the table, but only wants to “be able to talk about a new fiscal agreement between Catalonia and Spain”. He said he understands that this is not an “urgent priority for Rajoy”, but it is a “crucial issue” for Catalonia and “an opportunity” for Spain. Mas stressed that his cooperation would not be indefinite, and would have to be renewed in the future. The Catalan President told FAZ about a possible “federation” or “confederation” between Catalonia and Spain.

Artur Mas, President of the Catalan Government, has reflected on his first year in office. Mas justified the budget cuts his government has made in order to avoid “a collapse” in public services. He also criticised the recent trend of patronising the Autonomous Communities and claiming that they are responsible for Spain’s financial problems. That, he believes, has made them scapegoats. “The Autonomies are a very important part of the State”, “they provide almost all public services to citizens”, he stressed. In addition, Mas insisted that Spain’s debt and deficit is mainly due to the Spanish Government’s overspending over many years and not the fault of the Autonomies or the municipalities.

The winner of the Spanish Elections, Mariano Rajoy, outlined his government programme at the parliamentary debate on his approval before being officially appointed Prime Minister. Rajoy, without revealing any details, talked about redefining public powers, reforming public administrations, homogenising welfare policies and ensuring market unity. The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), the Catalan Green Socialist and Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA) and the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) warned Rajoy of not affecting Catalonia’s self-government with his reforms.

The conservative People’s Party (PP) has won the Spanish General Election with an absolute majority. The PP obtained 186 MPs in the 350-seat Spanish Parliament, its best ever result. The Socialist Party (PSOE), who are the current Spanish Government, obtained the worst results in its history, winning just 110 MPs. In Catalonia, another historical change has taken place: the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalists (CiU) have won in the Spanish elections for the first time. The Socialists lose 44% of their MPs in Catalonia, and their main candidate Carme Chacón, is in a bad position to lead the PSOE after Zapatero. The PP continues as Catalonia’s third party, despite an improvement in its results.

Catalonia is the only autonomous community where the Socialist Party has clearly won, but has lost around 35% of its MPs, according to the exit poll released by TV3. The People’s Party (PP) will remain Catalonia’s third biggest force, behind the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalists (CiU), who will increase their share by some 40%. The exit polls released at 20.00 CET, when the polls closed, indicate an absolute majority for the PP and an historical defeat for the Socialists throughout Spain. The PP will get between 181 and 185 MPs, when the absolute majority is 176 seats. The election day has been calm, with a lower turnout than in the 2008 elections, particularly in Catalonia.

Next November 20th, Spaniards will vote for the new Spanish Parliament. They will elect one of the lists running in their province, which is their constituency. Catalans will thus elect the lists running in the four Catalan provinces. Therefore, they will not directly elect Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (PSOE) or Mariano Rajoy (PP), but their party candidates in Catalonia, as well as parties only running in Catalonia, such as the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) or the Catalan Green Socialist Coalition (ICV-EUiA).