“I do not contemplate the return of Junts to the Government, but it would be desirable for future governments”

Their predisposition is to exhaust the legislature. Does ERC’s favorable vote for Sánchez bring the PSC’s support closer to the Generalitat’s budgets?

We will address the set of political forces with which we have reached agreements this term: Junts, CUP, Comuns and PSC. The State has not made the corresponding decisions to define the budget framework and 85% of the Generalitat’s income depends on it. The desire is for it to be a budget that has very broad support because on the essentials we agree a lot.

There are still some pending fringes of the agreement for the 2023.

It was approved in March and is for nine months because it was not possible to approve it before due to the will of the political forces. In any case, it is for all of 2023, it does not end in September.

What is your proposal for improving the capacity of the Barcelona-El Prat airport?

I hope that this September we can establish the working group with the Government and analyze the different options. I have to say that there is no perfect option. Due to the geographical characteristics in which the airport is located, we will have to refine very technically, and talk to the European Commission and see what the different alternatives are. As we said that we would face this issue in the bilateral negotiation with the State, without a priori, if I were to clearly mark an option now, I would be breaching the agreement.

There has to be some option. That of the Government, we already know, which is the expansion.

They will have to come to the meeting without a priori and be willing to discuss all of them.

Vueling encourages the Generalitat to promote sustainable fuel plants. Do you accept the proposal?

Yes, we have already made ourselves available to you for the lines of economic support that you could count on from the Generalitat, but what is needed is a clear commitment to private investment.

Has enough been done by governments to avoid the decapitalization of a large decarbonization and circular economy project such as Celsa?

At the moment, what there is is a decision by the commercial court to attribute the property to the creditors. Our objective is to maintain jobs and all industrial activity of the company as a whole. We have done everything that was in our hands. They have had and have a guarantee of 45 million euros from the Government and during 2020 and 2021 we rolled up our sleeves so that the SEPI would inject 550 million. From then on, it is a private company and ownership decisions are what they are.

Could the Government have prevented it?

This is a question, above all, of legal analysis, in which the analysis of Community regulations will play an important role.

What should the transfer of Rodalies be like?

It has to incorporate a few elements: trains, personnel, stations, track infrastructure and financing, not only due to the operating deficit, which the current operator Renfe now has, but also the financing to guarantee the investments, which is the explanation why this August has been a black month, an absolute disaster.

Regarding the fiscal deficit, do you propose a reform of the financing system, the assumption of the FLA…?

We are not proposing a multilateral negotiation on the financing of all the autonomous communities, but rather a bilateral issue between Catalonia and the Government. Catalonia suffers from an absolutely unbearable fiscal deficit and this is noticeable when we do not have enough resources to improve public health or education. We generate the resources, but we do not have them. The same could be said of the dependency law, industrial policy or the infrastructures in charge of the Generalitat. It is essential that this fiscal deficit of 20,000 million euros per year ends.

Are you worried about the economic situation? There are some indicators that are beginning to warn of a minimal slowdown in activity in the last quarter and of a more complicated 2024 than analysts anticipated until now.

Our forecasts coincide with those of international organizations in which growth will be lower than what we have had in recent years. The increase in energy costs should have led us to a situation of economic stagnation and that has not been the case. Consumption continues to maintain extraordinary vitality. The recovery of the foreign sector, both in exports of goods and services and in tourism, has been very clear. We have overcome the challenges we faced with flying colors. We have done so by placing unemployment at 8.4%, levels prior to the 2008 crisis. The fact that the recipients of a good part of our industrial exports – Germany, France or Italy – have a notable slowdown in industry , is an alert element. That is why the push that public administrations have to make to accompany the transformation of the economy becomes much more important.

The school year has started with a strike. Is the Government rolling up its sleeves enough?

This course has started with 1,200 more teachers than last year, when we already incorporated 3,500 during the course. We are once again at historic figures and this is positive in a context in which the number of students is falling. We have made progress with the free I2, in the financing of inclusive schools, in the pact against school segregation. They are very positive measures. The 100 euro check for school supplies is help that we value positively. It is a school year that, compared to others, begins with very good news. In any case, we will continue talking with the unions to reach agreements.

Is the problem of the school in Catalonia only one of resources?

Educational results are a medium and long-term aspect. Improvement or poor results are not a consequence of immediate decisions, but rather come from the past. Probably the cuts that occurred in this country 10 years ago explain part of the educational results we have now. It also explains why the country has changed. There are three shared elements in schools: a diverse student body, in origins, languages, economic condition and abilities; teaching staff full of vocation, eager to innovate and with extraordinary professionalism; and the third is the very high talent of the students.

But you have changed the ‘conseller’. Does this mean that you think policies have to be changed?

A new stage had to be opened, especially in relation to the forms of dialogue with the educational community. It had reached a point where it was very difficult to recover it if there was not a change of person at the helm. And this is unfair, but we have to put the institution and the improvement of education first.

He was talking about the school voucher of 100 euros and there are families who criticize this measure. Did you consider as an option that it would serve to directly cover the fee of each school or inject the 50 million euros directly into education?

We opted for a measure that was easy and effective in its application. It serves to cover the diversity of situations, regardless of the material fees that families can pay.

In an interview in EL PERIÓDICO, the president of Òmnium Cultural, Xavier Antich, said that the Government had not done enough for Catalan. What does he answer?

That we are working. We have the proposals from Òmnium Cultural and during the next few weeks we will have the opportunity to see if it is possible to incorporate them into the National Pact for Language. We are making a great effort to ensure that there is a consensus in the country, so that it is a language of social use and so that people can live in Catalonia fully in Catalan. We are also working in the audiovisual field. And, in the field of education, we are facing an offensive to end the Catalan school model.

Is the response to the drought being well focused?

It continues to be one of the main risks we have for this coming year despite the rains. We have had a summer in which bookings have decreased, but we have been able to keep the situation under control. Works are being carried out, especially water reuse, purification, drilling of new wells and recovery of wells. Regarding the expansion of the Tordera desalination plant, the State will assume the expansion, which allows us that resources from the Catalan Water Agency can go to other actions. The investment schedule was already planned, we could have saved an important part of the discussions. There was probably a proximity to the municipal elections, but in the end there was an agreement which is what is important.

Are city councils complying?

In general, we are finding a willingness to collaborate absolutely. We are all aware that, in the end, if there is a lack of water, it is missing for everyone, no one escapes.

Would it be in the interest of ERC to have a stable partner for the remainder of the legislature?

It would be desirable.

What if Junts wanted to return to the Government?

We should talk about the conditions. It is a Government, not a store that you enter and leave. Junts made the decision to leave, if today they want to review it then they will have to talk about strategy and a government plan. There is a year and a half until February 2025 and, therefore, the work of this legislature must be finished. Right now I am not contemplating his return, but my desire is for there to be maximum coincidence and coordination of the independence movement, and therefore, in future governments it should be desirable.

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