The president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, has pointed out that if Junts brings amendments in favor of the economic concert to Congress during the processing of the new model of autonomous financing, his party will support them unreservedly.
"If they present amendments in favor of the economic concert during the processing of the financing model, it is evident that we will vote in favor. We will vote in favor of any amendment that Junts presents in this regard," he emphasized in an interview with Europa Press.
He has even expressed that he is open and "delighted" to register them jointly, emphasizing that ERC is willing to vote on many initiatives with Junts and that they would like that attitude to be reciprocal for the benefit of Catalunya.
From the beginning, Junts has expressed its rejection of the new scheme agreed upon between ERC and the PSOE, which would imply an additional 4.7 billion for the Generalitat's accounts, and already indicated months ago that it would present a total amendment with an alternative text to advance towards the concert.
Despite these discrepancies, Junqueras has insisted that they remain willing to understand each other with the space of Carles Puigdemont and that they try "without stopping in all areas and every day," just as they try to do with the rest of the political forces.
Consortium of Investments and alternatives
He lamented that Junts voted against in Congress the Consortium of Investments, a proposal that ERC will register again in the next session period "to give Junts the opportunity to rectify and vote in favor of Catalunya."
"Our goal is not for Junts to vote against, our goal is for them to vote in favor of that. Therefore, we will try to convince them," Junqueras stated, using as an example the willingness of the republicans to support amendments from Junts that promote the economic concert.
In addition, he warned that if Junts maintains its 'no' to the Consortium of Investments, ERC is considering another route: "Instead of a consortium, a commercial company that can perform a relevant part of this function."
CPFF and new financing model
After criticizing the postponement of the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council (CPFF) from July to September, Junqueras believes that this delay evidences that the PSOE feels uncomfortable and struggles to advance in the financing reform, although he has demanded to "resolve this issue now."
"It is a model that is good for all communities and that presents many singularities for Catalunya. If it were not good for everyone, no one would vote for it," says the leader of ERC, who argues that the proposal is more equitable than the current system, which has been outdated since 2013.
For this reason, he has warned that opposing the agreement will mean "condemning Catalunya and everyone to continue with the resources of 2013, without taking into account that 14 years have passed in which spending on hospitals, primary care centers, schools, and universities has grown exorbitantly."
In this line, he has demanded that Junts contribute to improving the situation of Catalans by facilitating the approval of the new model and measures such as the cancellation of the FLA: "It cannot be that they prefer families to owe 17 billion rather than not owe them."
He has also reminded that the responsibility is shared and has urged the socialists to fulfill all pending commitments, including financing, because "they cannot ask for more efforts from anyone if they do not fulfill all that is pending."
IRPF and collection in Catalunya
Asked whether the pact with the PSOE for Catalunya to collect 100% of the IRPF has been suspended, he responded that ERC maintains the intention to introduce amendments within the framework of the financing reform.
"If we present this initiative outside the financing model, it is more difficult for it to be voted on because, in this initiative, many would gain nothing or too little. In contrast, if we present it within the financing model package, since everyone benefits, it is easier for everyone to end up voting for it," he clarified.
With this approach, he has ruled out reactivating separately the legislative reform for Catalunya to collect the IRPF and expects that the planned schedule can be met if the new model goes ahead.
Application of the amnesty
In relation to the fact that the Supreme Court (TS) has begun to apply the Amnesty Law after the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU (TJUE), Junqueras interprets that the high court is "starting to do what it should have always done, which is to act with criteria of justice."
He argues that they should not have been convicted, claiming that they committed no crime, and has criticized that the Supreme maintained the sentences despite the fact that the alleged crime disappeared with the reform of the Penal Code: "This does not happen anywhere else in the world."
He has also accused the Supreme Court of not applying the approved Amnesty Law, despite being backed "by a score of rulings from the Constitutional Court and by European justice."
In his case, he has avoided speculating whether the TS will act immediately or wait for the ruling of the Constitutional Court (TC), which will begin to address the pending appeals for protection in September "and which should have resolved it a long time ago."
"Keeping someone from being able to teach at the university on the grounds that they pose a contagion risk among university students, of a spirit of rebellion, makes no sense. That's it!" he has claimed.
He also does not see it as logical that the former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont and the former councilors Toni Comín and Lluís Puig continue to be unable to return to Catalunya, and he has made it clear that, if he is finally amnestied, his intention is to be the ERC candidate for the Catalan elections.
Balance of two years at the head of ERC
In December, it will be two years since Junqueras resumed the presidency of ERC. He claims that he has tried to bring "the social and national ambition that the socialists lack and the reasonableness that those of Junts do not have" to close broad agreements and build solid majorities, also through dialogue with socioeconomic agents.
He has shown himself in favor of Gabriel Rufián repeating as the head of the ERC list for the next general elections and denies that there has been "any difference" between them, nor does he consider it necessary to rebuild their relationship despite the spokesperson's bet in Congress for a plurinational and leftist front.
"The best possible proposal is needed, and the best possible proposal in Catalunya is ERC. And I believe that we all agree on this," he has insisted, emphasizing that the party does not aspire to be simply the left of the PSOE, but the main leftist project in Catalunya.
For this reason, he has positioned ERC as the reference option in the Catalan landscape, "as Bildu is in Euskadi, the BNG in Galicia, and Compromís in the País Valencià."