The regional executives governed by the PP have expressed their reservations this Monday regarding Catalonia's initiative to set asymmetric deficit targets among communities, depending on the particular fiscal situation of each territory, although they have assured that they will review the proposal before setting a definitive position.
This was conveyed by several PP regional councilors in statements to the media after the meeting of the Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy (CPFF) held this Monday, in which the Minister of Finance, Arcadi España, had 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 last year and which was already rejected by the Congress of Deputies.
However, from the Ministry of Finance they have confirmed that the Government is open to debating and setting asymmetric deficit targets by territory, taking into account the fiscal reality of each community, as Catalonia had put on the table.
The first to comment on this matter was the Madrid councilor Rocío Albert, who has flatly rejected this approach: "We consider that all autonomous communities are at the service of Spain and therefore we must have the same deficit objectives and the same debt objectives."
On the other hand, the Valencian councilor José Antonio Rovira has stated that he is not fundamentally opposed, although he downplays the debate. "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.
Reactions from Murcia and Andalusia
The Murcian councilor explained that the communities learned of the possibility of establishing asymmetric deficit targets during the session of the Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy itself, without prior information on this matter.
"We, of course, the Region of Murcia, which is the worst funded in Spain, are going to study it," indicated the PP counselor, who, when questioned again about whether they rule out the proposal, reiterated that they will analyze it, although he considers that "the rules of the game must be the same for everyone."
Along similar lines, the Andalusian counselor Carolina España expressed herself, who pointed out that, initially, she understands that the 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 bear the Welfare State for the purpose of the spending rule as we autonomous communities do," she stated.