The Minister of Finance, Arcadi España, announced this Monday that he will convene the autonomous communities in the Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy (CPFF) on July 29 to address the reform of the regional financing system.
As detailed by the head of Finance, a first draft of the agreement to modify the financing model will be sent to the regional governments this week. Subsequently, on July 14, a meeting of the technical committee will be held to analyze the proposal, and later, on the 29th, the regional councilors will be convened at the CPFF.
"This is the timeline we have, I believe we will all make an effort," the minister indicated at the press conference following the CPFF, where the stability objectives for public administrations were set for the preparation of the General State Budgets (PGE) for 2027.
In this context, España urged all autonomous communities, including those that have so far refused to sit down and negotiate with the Executive, to participate in the process once they have the document and can analyze it in detail.
"They have time to study it and I believe it is possible and I trust that everyone's will will make us approve a financing model in the Council of Fiscal Policy that represents a before and an after," the minister stressed.
España expressed his recognition to the communities of different political colors that have agreed to dialogue with the central government in bilateral meetings held in recent months.
In contrast, he admitted that he cannot understand "a systematic no, a no to talking, a no to dialogue." "And more so if you don't have an alternative to confront. Perhaps that is the problem. That the Popular Party cannot reach an internal consensus on a financing model," he reproached.
In Arcadi España's opinion, it is "neither democratically elegant nor fiscally responsible" for the party led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo to reject a new model without presenting its own proposal and without wanting to sit down to negotiate.
In any case, the head of Finance insisted that his department keeps the door open for dialogue, whether through telephone contacts or in-person meetings, with all autonomous communities to resolve any doubts that may arise before the CPFF on July 29.
He explained that the Ministry is analyzing the contributions made by several communities in bilateral meetings and confirmed that some of these suggestions will be incorporated into the final project.
"We have not closed the door to dialogue, neither to regional governments nor to parliamentary groups with whom, of course, we will also begin to discuss the model," España emphasized.
Objective 2027: timeline and processing of the new model
The Government's forecast is that, after the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council, the proposal will reach the Council of Ministers after the summer for its initial approval and, subsequently, will be sent to the Congress of Deputies, where it must receive the approval of the different parliamentary groups.
"Our objective is to work quickly, to work with dialogue," the minister stated, when asked about the deadlines the Executive had set to push through the new system this year so that it could come into force in 2027.