The regional executives governed by the PP have expressed their reservations this Monday regarding Catalonia's initiative to set differentiated deficit targets by communities, based on the particular fiscal situation of each territory, although they have assured that they will examine the proposal in detail before setting a definitive position.
This is how several PP regional councilors have been communicating it in statements to the media after the meeting of the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council (CPFF) held this Monday, in which the Minister of Finance, Arcadi España, has summoned the communities to agree on the stability objectives of public administrations for the preparation of the General State Budgets (PGE) for 2027.
During the meeting with the regional finance officials, the minister presented the 2027-2029 stability path for all autonomous communities, which remains at 0.1% of GDP, the same objective proposed the previous year and which was rejected by the Congress of Deputies at the time.
At the same time, the Ministry of Finance has reiterated that the Government is open to discussing and eventually setting asymmetric deficit targets by territory, considering the different fiscal reality of each community, as had been put on the table by the Generalitat of Catalonia.
The first to speak on this matter was the Madrid councilor Rocío Albert, who has categorically rejected this formula: "We believe that all autonomous communities are at the service of Spain and therefore we must have the same deficit targets and the same debt targets."
In contrast, the Valencian councilor José Antonio Rovira has stated that he is not frontally opposed to the idea, although he downplays its importance. "It is true that imposing the same deficit on all autonomous communities with a financing system that benefits some and harms others does not make much sense either," he proclaimed.
Initial reticence to asymmetry
The Murcia councilor explained that the communities learned of the proposal to establish asymmetric deficit targets during the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council session itself, without prior detailed notice.
"We, of course, the Region of Murcia, which is the worst financed in Spain, are going to study it," said the Murcian head of the PP, who, when asked again if they oppose the measure, reiterated that they will analyze the proposal, although he believes that "the rules of the game must be the same for everyone."
In a similar vein, the Andalusian counselor Carolina España stated that, in principle, she understands that stability objectives "must be the same for all autonomous communities."
"We have asked, in any case, that different objectives be considered depending on different administrations. That is to say, the General State Administration does not support the Welfare State for the purpose of the spending rule as we, the autonomous communities, support it," she concluded.