When last week, the Minister of Economy, Natàlia Mas, presented her proposal for a unique financing model for Catalonia, she wanted to highlight that one of the characteristics would be “transparency.” And she said it as a contrast to the Basque concert or quota model in which the calculation of contribution to the State is not easy to carry out. In fact, sources from the Basque Ministry of Economy said that the figure is the result of a “very complex” calculation and that it is currently equivalent to 6.24% of the services provided by the State in the community. In 2021 the quota was 1,403 million euros.
If this amount is transferred from the quota to the model proposed by the Generalitat, it would mean that, of everything the Basque Government collected in 2021 (15,963 million euros), it delivered the aforementioned 1,403 million to the central State. That amount is equivalent to 8.8% of the collection. Sources from the Basque Government's economic department were quick to remind that the contribution of the quota is independent of the collection since a fixed amount must be paid regardless of what is received via taxes. And the Department of Economy of the Generalitat insisted that the Basque model cannot be compared with the one proposed by the Government.
Even so, if an exercise in “fictional economics” were carried out and what the Basque quota represents with respect to its income were extrapolated in the case of the Catalan model proposal, it would mean that Catalonia's contribution would have to be around 4.6 billion, on 8 .8% of the 52,000 million potential collection for 2021, as detailed in the presentation of the project.
Solidarity with the rest of the communities should be added to that amount. It is an uncertain figure and one that the Generalitat has not wanted to quantify because - it defends - it must be an element of negotiation. However, Minister Mas in an interview last year pointed out that acceptable solidarity with the rest of Spain should be between 2 and 4% of GDP. That translated into euros and for 2021 implies a range of between 4,900 and 9,800 million. Adding these amounts to the contribution to the State (4,600 million) gives total figures of between 9,500 and 14,400 million. Taking into account that the expected profit with the new model by the Generalitat is 26,000 million, the situation would be more positive for the Generalitat than with the current system.
The comments made by the Generalitat to defend the model have not pleased the Basque government due to the comparisons that are made especially regarding the lack of solidarity of the regional financing model. The Minister of Economy and Finance, Pedro Azpiazu, declared last week that “the economic agreement is a differentiated financing system protected by the Spanish Constitution. Bilaterally agreed with the State. It is supportive, singular and implies a unilateral risk. Our system dates back to 1878 and includes solidarity mechanisms, such as our contribution to the Interterritorial Compensation Fund. We pay 6.24% of the unassumed charges reflected in the State budget, a percentage higher than our population weight. "I respect the demands of other autonomies, but I demand scrupulous respect for our financing system."
The proposal of the current Generalitat – reminiscent of Artur Mas' failed fiscal pact – broadly consists of the Generalitat collecting 100% of taxes, including corporations and VAT, as the Basque government already does.
