Consell is asking the Government to give it a unique practice in terms of budget stability that would allow it to deviate from the deficit target above the average of other autonomies. It is known as asymmetric open, individualized or a la carte. This is a measure requested by the Generalitat to alleviate the effects of more than a decade of underfunding in Madrid. The premise is clear: By taking fewer resources from the system than they are entitled to, more flexibility is demanded to hit red numbers throughout an exercise. The government of Alberto Fabra (PP) demanded this, as did the government of Botànic, and now Carlos Mazón is starting the same war again.
The problem is that for the Valencian Community, or any other region, to have this additional margin, another administration must give it up and tighten its belt equally. As those who went through these negotiations acknowledge, this is an example of solidarity that is very complex to express at the political level. In fact, there is only one example of an asymmetric deficit, and it was decided more than 10 years ago after difficult negotiations between Mariano Rajoy’s then-Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro and regional administrators. After this experience, Pandora’s box was never opened again, and all societies had the same capacity for imbalance, regardless of the treatment they received from the financing system.
The Fiscal and Fiscal Policy Council (CPFF), the forum where regions negotiate their clear path with the state, met a few weeks ago and set the goal for all levels of administration. Of the total 3% that the government has committed to the European Union, the State allocates 2.9% and leaves the remaining tenth to the autonomies. The Valencian Community sees this distribution as unfair and, together with Murcia, wishes not to have to change the 0.3% target in their 2024 budgets. The Generalitat wanted the State to be the party that would bear the imbalance.
However, the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, announced after the last CPFF that in case of an asymmetric deficit, it will always be in the range of 0.1% for the autonomous communities subsector. So what C. Valenciana and Murcia could gain from the extra deficit will have to be lost by other regional governments. According to those present and experts, this is an overreach that greatly reduces the chances of success.
The big winner in 2013, the only year with an asymmetric deficit, was the Community. A deviation of 1.3% was envisaged for the subsector, and the then Minister of Finance of Valencia, Juan Carlos Moragues, allocated an extra three-tenths (1.6%) for the Generalitat. Others, such as Madrid or Asturias, have 1% left. Although the popular one managed to convince Montoro, with whom he is in great harmony, he admits to this newspaper the “war of numbers” that must be waged against other communities to achieve this different goal.
The regional secretary was Eusebio Monzó, who returned to office today after being rescued by Carlos Mazón. He and Moragues agree that the ministry should be the one to get involved and set the goals for any autonomy, despite the political unrest it might create. “I think an agreement between communities is unsustainable, it’s too complex,” says the former minister, who demands “leadership” from the government. Monzó, on the other hand, emphasizes that “it is very difficult for a regional government to give up its right to deviate from its budgets.”
«Giving 0.3% to all communities other than just the Valencian Community and Murcia is not the same. The logical thing would be for this difference to be borne by the Government, especially when it starts from 2.9% of the total 3% and communities cover 30% of the costs,” develops Monzó, emphasizing that the budget deficit is included in the budget accounts “This gives the Government a It’s not a “pulse”, it’s a “justified” demand to address chronic underfunding.
Vicent Soler, who was also Botànic’s former Minister of Finance, suffered firsthand from subsequent governments’ reluctance to negotiate personal deficits, although socialists blamed autonomies. “The real problem is that the communities favored by the funding system always vote against it because they do not accept asymmetries in income and see it as a reward for those who do not comply. “It is the autonomies that must give way,” he argues.
Soler already had business with María Jesús Montero at the ministry. The general secretary of finance at that time was Diego Martínez, doctor of Economics and currently professor at Pablo Olavide in Seville and researcher at Fedea. The economist does not hesitate to attribute to this “nightmare” of 2013 the reason why the socialist Government never accepted the asymmetric deficit, despite the fact that Martínez, a high-ranking official in the Andalusian Government, requested this from Montoro.
“A deal on an asymmetric deficit is even more complex than a reform of the financing system, because it is a zero-sum game that cannot compensate for the underperformers,” he notes. In any case, Martínez defends these differentiated targets for reasons of “equity and feasibility” and recalls that Airef has supported them since 2016. He also understands that Montero is the one who needs to step up and “put the percentages on the table.”