MADRIDTransfers of part of European funds to the autonomous communities are advancing, but not at the pace that the autonomous governments would like. This is the thesis that has flown over the General Commission of the Autonomous Communities held this Thursday afternoon and which has had the appearance at the request of the Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, as well as the presence of different regional councilors.
Calviño explained that until April 28, the executive has already authorized more than 30 billion euros, 60% of the budget for the years 2021 and 2022 (51,528 million), according to data from the Ministry of Economy. Of these, 13,386 million are direct transfers to the Autonomous Communities, of which Catalonia has received 1,930 million euros, ie 14%. To this figure must be added 781 million executed directly by the state and a parallel item of 1,076 million euros from the EU React. This does not mean, however, that all this money has already been executed, as business organizations have pointed out. In fact, this is one of the main pitfalls of the plan: the arrival of funds in the real economy.
In 2021, just over 19 billion euros arrived, not all of which have been executed, as the Spanish government itself has acknowledged. The first remittance of 2022 and the most important until 2026 (12 billion euros) will be requested this week, Calviño has confirmed, and it is estimated that it will arrive in the summer. Thus, the European manna arrives with a dropper at the regional governments, which once they have received the remittances must be responsible for channeling them. Unlike other budget lines, European funds do not follow classical criteria such as population or GDP, but technical criteria by areas – previously defined by Europe – such as the ecological transition, digitization or rehabilitation, which should drive economic growth. Communities, however, have again criticized the lack of “co-governance” in selecting projects, as well as the centralized definition of criteria.
In addition, Calviño also detailed which millions linked to the PERTEs (for the time being, the approved PERTEs add up to a public investment of 30 billion) have gone on to explode in the autonomous communities. Catalonia is the third community behind Madrid and Extremadura, which has received the most money so far: 55 million. The Principality currently participates in the LOSS of the electric vehicle, in the aerospace, in the avant-garde health, in the circular economy and, finally, in the LOSS of the agri-food chain. In addition, 70 favorable calls have been resolved. However, Brussels has promised to inject a total of 70 billion euros between now and 2026. And the state has already confirmed that it will ask for the part of the funds linked to the loan, that is, to repay: 70 billion in available loans. In total, 140 billion euros.