The agreement between PSOE and PNV about appointing Pedro Sánchez and shaping the next legislature includes, in effect, a plan to move the Social Security economic regime to Euskadi within two years. It is not written in the text, but observers believe it could be extended to nine other autonomous communities that enjoy a similar authority, Catalonia among them. The core political question is whether the management of the economic regime covers the collection of social contributions and pension payments while the state maintains the Single Social Security Fund.
Gernika Charter and Catalonia, Galicia, Aragon, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Andalusia, Extremadura and Navarra are described as territorial authorities that could take on the economic regime management in the event of delegation.
Euskadi, Catalonia, Galicia, Aragon, Valencia, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Andalusia, Extremadura, Navarra awaiting the transfer of economic management of Social Security
Yet this does not apply to other regions like Madrid, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, La Rioja, Asturias, Cantabria and Murcia.
After the PSOE-PNV agreement was signed, the Acting Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, stated that nothing about Social Security was explicitly mentioned in the text and stressed that the unified fund would not be broken. She also noted that nine other autonomies hold similar authority over the economic regime that Euskadi claims ownership of.
Proofreads followed
In matters of Social Security, the Generalitat would handle: a) the legal development and implementation of basic national legislation, excluding rules that define the economic regime, and b) the administration of the economic regime of Social Security. This is reflected in the Statute of Autonomy. The Valencian Community likewise follows Article 18 and Article 54 of the Gernika Charter and Navarre’s arrangements in practice.
Similar language appears in several other laws that allocate autonomous authority over the management of the economic regime for their territories.
Common parlance notes that some statutes add clarifying language about a necessary transfer. It does not imply breaking the single fund. The Social Security Law ensures that contributions paid by workers nationwide feed a common fund that covers the needs of all retirees, wherever they live.
Transfers, taxes, money for Basque language and labor reform: keys to the PSOE-PNV agreement
Thus, Catalonia’s Statute states: Social Security matters fall to the General Staff, with the principles of unity and solidarity. The common competence of Social Security includes a) developing and applying state legislation other than rules defining the economic regime, and b) managing the economic regime of Social Security. A nearly identical formulation appears in the statutes of the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, and Extremadura.
single box problem
To ease opposition, some laws use the phrase single box. Article 63.3 of the Statute says that in Social Security matters, the executive powers deriving from state law apply to the Autonomous Community, including the management of its economic regime, while fully respecting monetary unity. This applies to Andalusia and also references Galicia and Aragon.
The Basque Government argues that the administration of the economic regime remains compatible with a unitary fund and the principle of solidarity, which supports the continued validity of a single fund.
Basque circle
The official voices warn that managing funds, even within a framework of shared authority and a single fund, requires careful governance. A notable expert on European business law remarked that control over contributions and the channeling of benefits are central to the treasury’s operation. He emphasized the role of mediation and timely distribution of resources to meet Social Security obligations.
The Basque regulatory portal legebunea explains that the economic administration of Social Security includes functions such as business registration and sanction power, as well as the administration of membership, registration and the enforcement of contributions and other funding sources for the Social Security System.
Postponement or fragmentation of this authority would imply that Basque governance could manage the economic regime, as well as the ordering and payment of the obligations tied to Social Security and the distribution of monetary resources to fulfill those obligations.
The question remains whether future negotiations will align the central government with the same scope of delegated powers to the autonomous communities.