The parliamentarian of Sumar, Jon Hernández, has warned that, due to the "distance" separating his group from the regional Executive, it will be "very difficult" to reach an agreement on the budgets with the Basque Government. For this reason, he has predicted a "very limited" scope for negotiation after the first meeting held this Monday with the Minister of Finance and Treasury, Noël d'Anjou.
Hernández, in statements to the media after meeting with the head of Finance, has explained what the priorities are that Sumar has put on the table with a view to a possible pact on the Basque Government accounts for 2027.
As he has detailed, housing leads these demands, "as cannot be otherwise." Therefore, he has warned that his group will not back budget accounts "that are not fully aimed at solving the serious housing problem we have in this country."
The representative of Sumar believes that, as the budget project is currently framed, it does not put the response to the housing crisis at the center.
Sumar’s priorities and criticisms of the model
Another of Sumar’s red lines is public services. Hernández has said that some items have been increased "below what the cost of living is going up," which, in his view, limits its capacity to sustain and strengthen these services.
Beyond the specific amounts, Sumar argues for "a change in the model" with respect to the "outsourcing" of public services, and proposes recovering for direct management those services "essential" that are now in the hands of private companies.
The parliamentarian has also focused on taxation, where he sees room to move toward greater redistribution of wealth through surcharges in the Corporate Tax. In this tax, he has denounced that "you pay a little in Euskadi," and has emphasized that "it is essential, at these moments, to use this type of measures to combat speculation."
The left-wing coalition has likewise conveyed to the minister the advisability of "expanding various benefits and moving toward free public transport," basing this on tax changes.
Despite everything, Hernández insists that he sees it as “very difficult” for his group to reach a final agreement with the Basque Government. “We have found, and that is also what they convey to us, that we have differences both in the numbers of the budget items and in the model,” he has stated, adding that, for this reason, he considers it “complicated” to reach an understanding with the adviser.
Housing, taxation, and little room for a deal
In this line, he has described as “symptomatic” that the allocation of the Department of Housing “in reality is practically frozen compared with the previous year.” He has stressed that, while the Government sets aside 900 million euros for the so-called Financial Alliance, the Housing Social Fund barely has 20 million.
For this reason, and given the “distance” he perceives between the two parties, Hernández considers it “complicated” for Sumar to even come to formulate a closed proposal to the Department of Finance that would make it possible to move forward in the budget negotiations.
The parliamentarian has also not clarified whether Sumar will sit down again with D'Anjou within the framework of these talks. “We believe the scope is going to be very, very limited,” he has said about the process, insisting that in this Monday’s meeting it was highlighted “that there are no means to be able to make an approach.”