Government will appeal to Constitutional Court against Law on Tax Measures in Catalonia

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

Following a favourable report from the Council of State, the Council of Ministers resolved to ask the President of the Government to lodge an appeal against certain rules of the Law on Tax, Financial and Administrative Measures of Catalonia due to their unconstitutional nature.

The Vice-President of the Government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, explained that five additional provisions of this law "seek to enable the regional government, in the case of separation, to take on State functions". These provisions have been enacted, she added "for unconstitutional events such as the unilateral separation of Catalonia from the Spanish State".

One of these rules is designed to create a tax authority in Catalonia that would assume the management of all taxes in Catalonia, including those on foreign trade. Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría pointed out that this breaches the sovereignty and equality of all Spaniards before the law and respect for the procedure to reform the Constitution, as well as the State's exclusive competence on issues regarding public authorities and international relations. The creation of individual tax authorities in other autonomous regions, she warned, "will result in identical challenges as in this case".

The other provisions subject to appeal relate to the Inventory of the heritage of the public authorities of Catalonia, the List of strategic infrastructures, the Master Plan on the energy, telecommunications and information systems sector and railway transport, and the creation of the Social Protection Agency of Catalonia. The Vice-President of the Government argued that this assumption of powers on social security issues is a break away from the single treasury which "benefits all pensioners, regardless of whether they are resident in an autonomous region with a pension deficit such as Catalonia, and protects us all when we retire so that our entitlements are acknowledged and our pensions paid".

Sovereignty exclusively corresponds to the Spanish people

Pool MoncloaAs regards these provisions, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría highlighted that the Council of State has backed the proposed appeal on the same grounds as the Constitutional Court declared the incompatibility of the declaration on sovereignty of the people of Catalonia in relation to the Spanish Constitution.

There is now a "well grounded" principle established by the Constitutional Court and, moreover, reiterated unanimously by a ruling handed down by this court that was announced on Thursday "whereby sovereignty exclusively corresponds to the Spanish people", and hence, "neither a declaration of sovereignty not the consequences of this declaration of sovereignty fall within the precepts of the Constitution", she declared.

Furthermore, the government will challenge two articles under the Law on Tax Measures. On the one hand, Article 69, since its assigns the Meteorological Service of Catalonia the function of supporting air navigation, when this a power that is exclusive to the State. On the other hand, Article 95, which imposes restrictions on major commercial establishments, which not only breaches basic State legislation but also EU law, which impedes erecting barriers of this nature, pointed out the Vice-President of the Government.

The Council of Ministers also asked the President of the Government to lodge an appeal on the unconstitutional nature of Article 34 of the Budget Act of the Regional Government of Catalonia for 2015, because it exceeds the basic limits established on the regulation of mass global remuneration of civil servants and the public employment offer.

Maritime workers

Pool MoncloaThe Council of Ministers analysed the draft bill that comprehensively regulates the social protection of all workers in the maritime-fisheries sector.

The Vice-President of the Government announced that, among the main new measures, is the incorporation of the Special Social Security Regime for Maritime Workers, both self-employed and salaried workers, who have now been claiming this status for many years. Furthermore, it defines the beneficiaries of benefits managed by the Maritime Social Institute (Spanish acronym: ISM) regardless of the regime to which they have been allocated.

Among the new employee beneficiaries are personnel that render services on oil or gas rigs or similar structures; workers engaged in aquaculture services; purse-seiners; port stevedores and harbour pilots. The text also contains those self-employed workers incorporated in the merchant navy and maritime fishing. Divers, both those that extract natural resources and professionals, are also included.

Current affairs

When asked about the post-election pacts taking place to form local councils and regional governments, the Vice-President of the Government reiterated that the government considers that in order to form a government, "the general principle of the most voted-for party list should be respected", because this "respects the will of the voter" and is "a way of maintaining coherence".

To this effect, she invited those parties with a national vocation to reflect on whether "their support for more radical and extremist left-wing approaches" could "weaken the national recovery" and to take into consideration that "Spain must continue to have a national objective".

Pool MoncloaAs regards whether the government is thinking about adopting any type of measure so that local councils and regional governments can continue meeting their deficit targets, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría stressed that "upholding the law is not optional", and that the government, when faced with actions that break the law, "will strive to uphold the rule of law".

As regards the role of the President of the Government in revoking the Infanta Cristina's title of Duchess of Palma, the Vice-President of the Government explained that this is a decision that exclusively corresponds to the King and the President of the Government will endorse such a decision, in other words, "assume the responsibility for royal decisions".