It is not the first time that an agreement between the Catalan parties and the central government on matters of competence or resources ends up being extendable to the rest of the autonomous communities, although the spirit of the pacts sealed, by sovereignism, is not initially that. This Friday happened once again. The first vice president of the Executive and head of the Treasury, María Jesús Montero, opened the door for the immigration powers that Junts has agreed to delegate to the Generalitat to also reach other communities.
“Everything agreed with the Catalan formations is perfectly replicable in the rest of the autonomous communities of the common regime,” said the socialist leader in a forum organized by Cadena Ser in Seville. With the transfer of the commuter network, the Minimum Living Income (IMV) or the forgiveness of a part of the regional debt, the same thing has happened. In any case, JxCat's intention – as has happened to Esquerra on other occasions – with the negotiation was to leave behind coffee for everyone.
After the first few hours of silence and leaving the weight of the story to Carles Puigdemont's party, the Government and the Socialists have worked hard to try to dilute the concessions. That trend continued on Friday and not only Montero made considerations in that regard. The Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, highlighted that the immigration policy is “European” and that it must be done in line with community guidelines. “With complete clarity, migration policy is a European policy and therefore the guidelines come from Europe,” he stated. “From there, whoever exercises jurisdiction is important, but they have to do so within the guidelines established by the European Migration Pact and the guidelines of the European Commission,” added the minister just before meeting with the president of the National Court. , Ramon Navarro.
The head of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, for her part, highlighted that the delegation of powers in immigration matters is “within a constitutional framework.”
On the other hand, another socialist leader, Emiliano García-Page, president of the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha, as usual, was the discordant note in relation to the agreements reached with JxCat. He already passed the investiture. “If Vox asked for it, everyone would tear their clothes,” he stated to express his displeasure at the delegation of powers to the Catalan administration.
And if a few weeks ago it was Junts who criticized Esquerra for talking about the comprehensive transfer of Rodalies – a slogan that the Catalan Executive still uses – or asked about the fine print of the agreement that Pedro Sánchez and Pere Aragonès closed for the transfer of the IMV. .. now it is the Republicans who emphasize that there is nothing written about the delegation of immigration powers to the Generalitat. From the Government and from the formation of Oriol Junqueras they point out that what there is is a “declaration of intentions” that must be substantiated in the drafting of an organic law in which they will have something to say as transmitted by Bolaños, to whom, the ERC leaders rushed to call to ask for explanations for what was agreed with Junts in exchange for their support for the decrees.
“He confirmed to me that it is not a transfer,” highlighted yesterday the Minister of the Presidency, Laura Vilagrà, in statements to RAC1, although the post-convergents have spoken of delegation at all times and do not hide that it is a political pact. In that sense, Moncloa has also highlighted that this is a delegation of powers, and that they will continue to be the property of the State.
These criticisms from the Republicans and the fact that ERC tries to associate them with the extreme right of Aliança Catalana, a party that heads the Ripoll town hall with Sílvia Orriols, unnerved the leaders of Junts, who disgraced the Republicans who "despise" the delegation of powers to the Generalitat. In that sense, the spokesperson and vice president of the post-convergents, Josep Rius, recalled that the Esquerra group in the Parliament voted a few months ago against the Catalan Executive assuming these powers. “Giving up powers regarding immigration is giving up governing,” Rius replied to Vilagrà.
This Saturday Junts will predictably validate the celebration of a convention on migration in the second half of the year.
