In the event that the PP blocks them twice, the most demanding objectives set out in the April Stability Program will be set.
MADRID, 4 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -
The Senate will debate and vote in the plenary session this coming week - expectedly on Wednesday - on the budget stability objectives for all public administrations, which could decline if the Popular Party asserts its majority in the Lower House to reject them.
The absolute majority of the PP in the Senate could put into play the definitive approval of the budgetary stability objectives, which have already been validated by the Congress of Deputies and which represent the first step in the preparation of the General State Budget project (PGE). ) from 2024.
According to the agenda of the Lower House, in the same session the agreement by which the Rebalancing Plan, a budget planning roadmap for the next triennium, is sent to the Cortes will be debated.
The vote on these objectives will be carried out with the 2023 Budgets already extended because the Executive has not been able to approve a public accounts project before January 1, 2024 due to the electoral calendar and the subsequent investiture process.
This has occurred as a result of article 134 of the Constitution, which determines that if a Budget has not been approved before January 1, those of the previous year will be automatically considered extended.
The intention of the Ministry of Finance is to approve the General State Budget law (PGE) for 2024 before April. To do this, the non-financial spending limit, known as the spending ceiling, of the State Budget for 2024 is already ready, which amounts to 199,120 million euros, 0.5% more compared to the previous year, including the funds from of the European Union.
In the last meeting of the Fiscal Policy Council with the autonomous communities, the Treasury proposed a deficit of 3% in 2024 for all Administrations, 2.7% in 2025 and 2.5% in 2026.
In the case of the autonomies, a target of 0.1% was established for 2024. For 2025 and 2026, the communities will seek budget balance. For local entities, the budget balance (0%) from 2024 to 2026 was also agreed, while for Social Security the deficit was set at 0.2% for 2024, 0.1% for 2025 and 0% by 2025.
But the spending ceiling is not voted on in the Cortes, only the budget stability and public debt objectives, which will have to be aligned with European fiscal rules, after years suspended due to the pandemic.
According to the Budget Stability Law, if the Congress or the Senate reject the objectives, the Government, within a maximum period of one month, will submit a new agreement that will be subject to the same processing procedure.
And this is where the absolute majority of the PP in the Senate appears and its ability to veto said objectives. The president of the Senate, Pedro Rollán, already warned that the 'popular' would place the Upper House as a "counterweight" to the coalition government.
If the objectives are not approved up to two times, according to a report from the State Attorney's Office, the stability objectives would be those included in the Stability Program sent to the European Commission last April, which are more demanding for communities and town councils. .
Specifically, the objectives that would be applied if the PP rejects the Government's path in the Senate set budgetary stability for autonomous communities and a surplus of 0.2% for city councils, which means giving less margin for spending by both Administrations.
In the event that the Cortes Generales definitively approve the objectives proposed by the Government, the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council would have to meet again. But if those of the April Stability Program are finally applied - more restrictive - that meeting would not take place.
