Catalan News Agency - “We won’t do anything that may leave us out of Europe”, stated Catalan Finance Minister
Barcelona (ACN).- The Catalan Minister
for the Economy and Knowledge, Andreu Mas-Colell, emphatically stated
that if it is “neat, the conflict between Catalonia and Spain will not
affect the economy” nor business activity. In front of about 250
employers who were invited at a luncheon organised by Barcelona’s
Chamber of Commerce, Mas-Colell explained that “Catalonia had emerged
stronger” from the economic crisis. The former Economics Professor in
Harvard and Berkley also emphasised that the Catalan Government “will
not do anything that may leave [Catalans] out of Europe”, thereby
sending “reassuring” messages to business-owners. In his speech, the
Finance Minister also defended the ongoing self-determination process,
describing it as an attempt to respond to the Spanish Government’s
centralist policy which is looking to “laminate” Catalonia’s Autonomy
“using the crisis as an excuse”.
Andreu Mas- Colell addressed the issue that an independent Catalonia
would be excluded from the European Union, which has raised by Spanish
and European authorities. In such respect, the Finance Minister gave a
clear and unequivocal statement: “We will not ever do anything that may
leave us out of Europe”. Mas-Colell stressed the European spirit of
Catalonia, which is “stronger” than any other European region, “in every
aspect”. For this reasons, he wanted to send his support to the
citizens of Ukraine.
EU membership is “in the hands of European countries and institutions” as a whole
The prestigious Micro-economics Professor pointed out that staying
within Europe’s political and economic union is not merely in the hands
of the Spanish Government, which might veto Catalonia’s full-right EU
membership, but in the hands of European countries and its institutions
as a whole. Mas-Colell emphasised that historically they have been
“tolerant”. “They will sooner or later eventually be involved in the
process” in favour of Catalonia, he added.
The Catalan Minister admitted that the Spanish Government’s attitude
towards Catalonia is different to the British Executive’s towards
Scotland. However, he explained that Spain could block Catalan citizens’
democratic claims forever, since the country is part of the European
Union. Mas-Colell argued that being part of the EU “conditions, and to a
great extent” what can be considered as a “respectable attitude” to
deal with the issue. Thus, said Mas-Colell, the conflict will not be
short, but “the environment will enable the persistence of the peaceful
and democratic will of the people of Catalonia”, who will finally have
the possibility to “determine [their] own destiny”.
“It would not make sense” for Catalonia to lower taxes “unilaterally” in 2015
Employers have expressed their concern about the fiscal pressure in
Catalonia, which is one of the highest of all European areas. In this
sense, they have asked whether the Minister could guarantee that taxes
would be lowered in 2015. Mas-Colell replied that he “did not see why it
would be impossible for taxes to be lowered” but that in order for it
to happen, the Spanish Government would also have to make this decision.
“It would not make sense” for Catalonia to lower taxes “unilaterally”.
The Minister explained that Catalonia cannot compensate the tax
increases decided by the Spanish Government. He explained that if the
Spanish Finance Ministry decided to increase the Income tax, they could
not lower it at the same time since the Catalan Government would be
lacking significant revenue in such a scenario.
The
negotiations for a new fiscal redistribution scheme among Spanish
Autonomous Communities also was on the employers’ minds. Mas-Colell has
again insisted that Catalonia will not have a significant role in the
negotiation of such a model, since it has always played this part in the
last decades. However, now, Catalan authorities are willing to leave
the initiative to other regional governments to lead in such an issue.
In this vein, Mas-Colell gave his support to Madrid’s and other
Autonomous Communities’ claims.
Finally, Andreu Mas-Colell
mentioned fiscal balances issue, which calculate how much money Catalan
citizens and companies pay to the Spanish Government and how much of
this money comes back as services, investments and funds. He noted that
this year the experts have more information than ever in such respect.
All this information will foster the debate among experts and ensure a
faithful picture of the fiscal situation in Catalonia compared to the
rest of Spain.Hide Keyboard
