In the end, no case of embezzlement will be decriminalized in the reform of the Penal Code, according to the information that we are advancing today in La Vanguardia. We already warned yesterday that it was not good to prejudge how this complex legislative change was going to end until next week it is definitively approved in Congress. Whoever does it, pays for it, whatever the party and for whatever motivations they may be. The Government has accepted the ERC proposal to reform this crime in the face of the causes derived from the actions of various public officials during the process, but this does not mean a general blank check. It would not be understood otherwise. The reform of the Penal Code can facilitate a reduction in possible and future sentences, but it cannot suppose an elimination of the crime. The Government cannot deflate Catalonia in exchange for inflaming the whole of Spain. In this complicated balance is the negotiation that the PSOE and UP are going to have this week with ERC to close the agreement on this legislative reform.
Pedro Sánchez plays risky. As usual. But it is the only way to resolve this complex squaring of the circle: to avoid a massive imprisonment of government officials for wanting to organize an illegal referendum without the reform approved to prevent it leaving any case of embezzlement unpunished in the future. . Many speculations have been made in recent days that did not reflect reality.
The content of the amendments prepared by PSOE and UP confirm a desire to toughen the Penal Code in some cases that are not even foreseen today, such as the concept of illicit enrichment. This new measure is designed for those positions that can obtain a patrimonial increase of more than 250,000 euros during their term without being able to prove their origin. The general idea is that the irregular budgetary deviation within the public administration has a cost, regardless of whether it is for personal benefit, the benefit of the party or an ideological cause, as can be the case with regard to the procés. The ultimate goal of the proposal is that there can be no excuse to mask any case of embezzlement.
