Andorra PM Rules Out Reopening Commune Funding Talks
Xavier Espot firmly rejects revisiting the funding agreement with communes amid rising national costs, a position echoed by mayors who say the issue.
Key Points
- Espot cites 2010s agreement providing generous transfers; reopening debate unfeasible amid precarious balances.
- Predicts mayors' unique claims (capital status, roads, water) could endlessly demand more funds.
- National priorities like health, education face cost pressures; no commune power expansion planned.
- Mayors cautious: topic absent from meetings, current model efficient despite local workloads.
Andorra la Vella's head of government, Xavier Espot, has firmly ruled out reopening talks on commune funding, a stance echoed by several commune leaders who confirmed the issue has not featured in recent discussions.
Speaking at the executive's Christmas media gathering, Espot said the current system of competence distribution and transfers stems from a major agreement in Antoni Martí's second term. "What we will not do now is reopen this debate," he stated, adding that balances in the area remain precarious and the existing compromise already delivers generous funding to communes.
Espot predicted that each of the six mayors would push for more transfers based on unique claims—such as capital status for Andorra la Vella, larger territories, more secondary roads, water supply challenges, or split parishes like Pas de la Casa and Encamp. "We could extend these arguments endlessly, but that's not feasible," he noted.
With national responsibilities like social policies, education, health care, and pensions facing rising costs, Espot said expanding commune powers is off the table. Any reform, he added, would involve adjusting transfers up or down to ease central pressures, though that remains no priority for his administration.
Following Espot's remarks, commune mayors adopted a cautious tone at their bimonthly meeting in Escaldes-Engordany. Andorra la Vella's Sergi González had not raised extra funding demands for capital services in prior sessions, and the topic did not arise this time.
Escaldes-Engordany's Rosa Gili said it is "not on the agenda" for her commune and requires studying many factors. Canillo's Jordi Alcobé called it "very delicate," noting the 32-year-old model—despite some tweaks—links competences and transfers effectively and has reduced communes' reliance on central government. Both stressed it demands careful work if addressed, while acknowledging growing local workloads, such as more streets to maintain amid construction.
Gili and Alcobé agreed communes are handling responsibilities efficiently under the current setup, signaling broad reluctance to pursue changes now.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources: