“Social security is a key issue. We will start working from day one,” said the spokesperson for the Basque Executive, María Ubarrechena, who made her debut today after the first regular meeting of the Governing Council of the Legislative Power. The Minister of Governance, Digital Governance and Self-Government has also confirmed that she has already requested a meeting with the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, to reactivate the Bilateral Transfer Commission between the regional and state administrations to discuss the transfer of what was agreed between the PNV and Pedro Sánchez to give him their support in the Congress of Deputies.
“We are going to start in the short term with those who are more,” said the spokesman, referring to the competition for coastlines, ports and airports. A priority that the recently inaugurated Lendakari, Imanol Pradales, has already referred to on previous occasions, after he announced at the beginning of this year the transfer of management of the Cercanías lines, the homologation of degrees and higher studies completed abroad and the autonomy of the international protection system.
The agreement, approved last November in the context of the appointment of Pedro Sánchez as president of the government, stipulates that within a period of two years the powers established in the Guernica Statute of Autonomy must be transferred to the Basque Country. Among them, the one referring to the economic regime of social security. “A complex issue”, says Ubarrechena, but one that has been on the agenda of his department since day one: “There are easier issues than others.” […]but there are already proposals on the table.
The question of self-government is one of the central themes of the pact approved between the Socialist Party of Euskadi (PSE) and the PNV, whose coalition government is beginning to take shape. Defending what has been achieved, realizing what is still pending and a new Statutory Pact are in this sense the three axes, which in economic matters translate into “strengthening and developing the economic and financial self-government of Euskadi”, according to what is stated in the report. basis of the agreed program between socialists and penisuvists.
Splitting up the “single box”?
Among the pending cases, which refer to the full development of the 1979 Statute, is this change of hands in the “management of the economic regime of social security”, as stated in Article 18 of the said text. One that, however, raises doubts among professional associations, such as labour inspectors, or among the opposition itself, which has warned of the risk of a “rupture of the common fund” and the principle of equality between Spaniards.
In accordance with Title VIII of the Spanish Constitution (CE), which concerns the territorial organisation of the State, Article 149 establishes that the latter has “exclusive jurisdiction” over the “basic legislation and economic regime of social security”. And it adds: “Without prejudice to the provision of its services by the autonomous communities.”
While waiting to see how the transfer is configured and its fine print, there is a discussion. One that it is clear that the PNV wants to accelerate, because Pradales, while still in the round of contacts with social actors and political parties, is already urging the central government to sit down at the table to discuss the issue bilaterally.
Regarding these regional meetings, Ubarrechena, who appeared at the government headquarters in Vitoria together with vice Lendakari Mikel Torres, did not want to specify the dates. Yes, contrary to the line followed by Íñigo Urkullu, they have decided to exclude the Vox representative in the Basque Parliament, Amaia Martínez.
The reason for this, as explained, is that the training led at the national level by Santiago Abascal “does not share” its ethical and democratic framework. “We respect the representation of Vox, but the round of contacts seeks minimal foundations for the future of the country,” he said, criticizing the fact that the party does not recognize the reality of “self-government.”