(Politics) The Government and ERC agree on the Audiovisual law to approve the budgets

[Askor lml]

The Executive agrees to allocate to creations in co-official languages 1% of 5% of the income of international platforms for services in Spain that the law requires to invest in European productions

 

Esquerra announced this Wednesday an agreement with the central government to guarantee Catalan in the audiovisual law that will allow the approval of the general state budgets, which has been confirmed by Moncloa. The agreement will allow the accounts to be approved on December 21 in the Senate and go into effect as scheduled on January 1.

ERC has reported the agreement in a statement in which it assures that the pact has been reached "to give impetus to the negotiation process." The dialogue table between the Spanish and Catalan executives is scheduled to meet next January after meeting in September. Marta Vilalta, spokesperson for the party, has highlighted in Parliament that this pact will provide "stability, firmness and constancy" in the open negotiation process between the Spanish and Catalan governments to resolve the political conflict, and where the independentists ask for a referendum of self-determination and amnesty.

The details of the agreement have been announced by ERC this noon which, as La Vanguardia pointed out on Saturday, had already assumed that 6% of Catalan for streaming platforms based in Spain could not be applied to those that have their headquarters abroad. But there were solutions for Netflix, HBO or Amazon Prime, for example, to comply with the obligation to broadcast in co-official languages. And this is what both parties were working on.

The negotiation has been closed, among others, with pacts on equating the retirement of the Mossos with other security forces
The audiovisual law was the passkey that should have paved the way for the approval of the State budget. As reported by ERC, it has reached an agreement with Moncloa on several points. One of the workhorses was the equalization of the retirement age of the Mossos d'Esquadra to that of other security forces such as the Ertzaintza and to retire early at 60 years of age. The State will be responsible for the "full cost of the overpricing of this early retirement." It is scheduled to be effective from the first quarter of 2022.

Likewise, ERC affirms that it has reached an agreement in principle on investment of up to 19% in investments in Catalonia (with a package of territorial amendments). Something that has already been agreed for the current budgets and that finally, seeing what was executed, was not fulfilled.

1.6 million are transferred to compensate for the elimination of tolls on AP7 and AP2
Esquerra has also announced an agreement that includes the improvement of the pensioners' contribution. Specifically, those who, having contributed for 40 years, have been forced to advance their retirement and earn less than 900 euros, will receive a supplement to their pension.

With regard to Democratic Memory, the item consigned in the budgets for the renovation of the facilities of the Police Headquarters on Via Laietana, in Barcelona, is abolished.

Regarding infrastructures, management of the B23 and B30 will be transferred to the Generalitat, as well as 1.6 million euros to compensate for the elimination of tolls on the AP7 and AP2. And in housing, 10 million euros will be transferred to the Generalitat to buy homes from the Sareb to be used for social housing.

In the scientific field, four research and development projects will be financed, with a total of 7.55 million euros to fight cancer, or allocate it to Industry 4.0, quantum computing, or to finance scientific and technological infrastructures

With regard to policies to combat climate change, 500,000 euros are allocated for the first contracts in projects to mitigate the effects of the climate emergency in the Ebro Delta.

Audiovisual Law
Three lines of action
Three are the axes. First, through article 117 of the Spanish Audiovisual Law, which obliges all platforms, international or not, to allocate 5% of the income obtained from the provision of services in Spain to European productions. The Government has been offering ERC that 0.7% of this production be in co-official languages. Finally, it will be 1%, as the Republicans had demanded. According to sources from Esquerra, this could mean between 15 and 20 million euros for next year and for that purpose. This was one of the fringes that prevented the final pact.

Second, those of Oriol Junqueras negotiated the creation of a fund, fully financed by the State, to encourage platforms to fold and subtitle in Catalan.

The role of the CAC
The shielding of the co-official languages in the sector of television on demand has been completed with what is already established in the law approved by the Council of Ministers: the obligation to incorporate in their catalogs the production that was previously dubbed or subtitled into Catalan.

To all this we must add another element. ERC has finally acquired a commitment from the Government for the Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC) to oversee compliance with production, dubbing and subtitling in Catalan.

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