Like the schoolchildren who these days reopen the books to try to remember where in the historical story, or in the mathematical operations, they left off in June, the Government and the PSC have taken stock of the budget pact between republicans and socialists which made it possible to approve the accounts for 2023. The government balance is, as could not be otherwise, triumphalist; while the socialists press. “It is not dramatic, but there is a lot of room for improvement,” say PSC sources, after exhaustively analyzing the figures that the Executiu sent them after the evaluation meeting in July.
For this reason, the party led by Salvador Illa -meeting this Thursday and Friday in Vielha- will ask the Government for a new follow-up meeting at the beginning of October and will also repeat the round of contacts with “more than 170 socialist and economic agents who already participated in the preparation of the budget” in order to make a common assessment of compliance.
According to Executiu data, with a closing date of June 15, that is, exactly four and a half months after the signing of the agreement between Pere Aragonès and Salvador Illa and three of the entry into force of the agreed budgets, after passing through the Parliament, have already been implemented 75% of the 283 measurements that affect the work of 13 ‘conselleries’.
Until July, according to data collected by EL PERIÓDICO, 55% of the accounts have been executed and 11% of the agreed actions have been completed. A percentage analogous to that of the proposals that have not yet begun. In addition, there are 78% of the measures in progress.
Feminismes and Acció Climàtica, in the queue
The PSC evaluation indicates the ‘conselleries’ that accumulate the most pending duties. In the queue, and much different, is the department of Equality and Feminisms, with only 25% of the budget executed; followed by that of Climate Action, with 36%; and of Company and Work, with 42%. Furthermore, it so happens that it is also the ‘departments’ that – in percentage terms – have made the most budget modifications and have increased the credit the most, although overall it is Salut that has deviated the most from the budget, with more than 1 .7 million euros.
A point that the socialists view with concern, since they estimate that the deficit objectives will not be met, and that this will directly affect next year’s accounts. “It is not good news,” they emphasize.
The controversial aspects
Regarding the most controversial aspects of the pact, that is, the construction of the B-40, the push to Hard Rock and the remodeling of the El Prat airport They appear in the ‘long-term projects’ section of the Government. Thus, for example, regarding the Vallès highway, it is noted that “the protocol that guarantees the drafting and financing of the Rond Nord project of the urban systems of Terrassa, Sabadell and Castellar has been signed.” That is, the objective set by the agreement. “Completed work”, according to the Executiu.
Only the agreement is cited regarding the aerodrome, without further ado, and it is noted that the Government-Generalitat commission that must address the matter is pending creation. And of the macro leisure complex, the agreement sanctioned that “during 2022 the processes related to the start of the project had to be completed.” Something that, for the Government in its report, is “in progress”.
The pending issues
Despite the Government’s satisfaction, the PSC believes that execution is low and they are critical of the agreed measures that have not yet been implemented. Of the 281 that the agreement included, 32 have already been completed, while another 32 have not started, although the remaining 217 are in progress.
The most flagrant thing, according to the PSC, is that the “major investments” to alleviate the drought have not been completed, as in the case of the Besós regeneration station and the expansion of the Tordera desalination plant. “Despite having the resources available, now the Generalitat delegates to the Government to finance this investment,” criticize those from Illa.
They also accuse the Government of executing only 7.9% of the industry support programof having “difficulties” in carrying out the training programs for doctors and teachers, of having not yet noticed the measures to improve waiting lists in the field of Health nor the assessment of the degree of dependency, in addition to seeing a “slow” execution and with a “large margin for improvement” in the renewable energy field.
As provided for in the agreement, the pertinent follow-up meetings have been held between the Government and the PSC, specifically, March 8 and July 6, where the status of the agreements was reviewed and the Executiu “responded to the additional information requirements raised” by the socialists, sources from the Presidency point out.
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All this, at the threshold of the beginning of the negotiations of the accounts for next year, that the ‘president’, Pere Aragones, wants to address “at the same time” with Junts, the CUP, the Comuns and the PSC. For their part, the socialists separate the evaluation of the 2023 agreement from the future negotiation, although they warn that they have the right to “complain” if they see weak compliance with the previous accounts.
However, they rule out linking Aragonès’ accounts with the investiture of Pedro Sánchez and they claim to be “predisposed” to speak with the Government and even joke about having “cramps from having their hand so outstretched.”