Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006
The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia, the political institutions of the Catalan community, their powers and relations with the rest of Spain and the European Union, and the financing of the Government of Catalonia.
This Law was passed by Spanish Parliament on 19 July 2006 and approved by referendum of the citizens of Catalonia on 18 June 2006 and replaced the 1979 Statute of Sau. The new statute sought to achieve clarification of powers and their protection from encroachment by the State, increased executive, legislative and fiscal powers and the recognition of Catalan nationhood. Although turnout at the referendum was low at 49.4%, approval was given by 73.9% and came into effect 9 August 2006.
The conservative opposition party in Spanish Parliament, the People's Party, appealed immediately to the Constitutional Court of Spain on grounds of unconstitutionality of more than half of the Law. Four years after the Statute had been promulgated, on 28 June 2010, the Court made its judgement, annulling 14 articles and dictating the interpretation for 27 more. That led to a massive demonstration in Barcelona of more than a million people and, ultimately a consultation on self-determination in 2014 and the constitutional crisis of 2017-2018.
History
In 1919, a first Statute was drafted by the Commonwealth of Catalonia although it was rejected by Spanish Cortes Generales. In 1928, a draft Constitution was written in Havana by exiled Catalan nationalists.Catalonia first obtained a Statute of Autonomy in 1932, during the Second Spanish Republic. This law was abolished by General Francisco Franco after the Spanish Civil War, largely because Catalonia had been a region generally opposed to Franco's Nacionales forces. During periods of his rule, public usage of the Catalan language and culture, and more specifically, Catalan self-government were harshly suppressed.
In 1979, during the Spanish transition to democracy, the second Statute was approved by referendum.
On 18 June 2006, a referendum approved a new statute that had been passed into law by the Spanish Parliament and it thus became effective on 9 August 2006.
Amendment process
In 2003, an uneasy left-wing coalition formed government in Catalonia and set a goal to amend the Statute of Autonomy. As the Constitution had not set clearly defined methods for power sharing, particularly over shared jurisdiction or powers, there had been major conflict as the real power in Catalonia depended upon how far the State wanted to legislate. Since 1982, the PSOE and later the PP pursued policies to temper enthusiasm for devolution and instead sought to harmonise the powers devolved to all autonomous communities. This was interpreted by the 'historic nationalities' of Catalonia and the Basque Country as the re-imposition of centralist control from Madrid particularly after a landmark ruling of the Constitutional Court upheld the prerogative of the central government to use Basic Laws to encroach upon devolved jurisdictional powers to promote and protect 'the national interest' of the Spanish state.On 30 September 2005, the Catalan Parliament approved a new draft Statute of Autonomy. The approved proposal was sent to the Cortes Generales on 2 November 2005.
After receiving the proposal the Spanish Congress of Deputies approved the admission of A bill to reform the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia with the support of all the groups except the opposition People's Party.
The subsequent negotiations with the constitutional committee of Spanish Parliament led to amendments of some two thirds of the draft. The new text led one of the Catalan coalition government parties, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, to cease support for the new statute. Simultaneously, from January to April 2006 then opposition leader, Mariano Rajoy organised a signature campaign demanding a referendum on the new Statute, rather than the normal process of parliamentary majority.
On 10 May 2006, the amended text passed through its final reading through both Houses of the Parliament, with the support of all parties except both the Spanish main opposition party, the conservative People's Party, and the Catalan independentist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya for opposite reasons. ERC voted against the bill in the Spanish Congress of Deputies but abstained in the Senate so that it would still pass. ERC voted against it, despite its senior members having had a hand in drafting its content, due to the internal tensions within the party which this issue had brought to the surface.
On Sunday 18 June the Statute was put to referendum of the Catalan people. The referendum approved the Statute, the "yes" side receiving 73.23% of votes cast. The voter turnout was 49.41% of the total electorate, a relatively low figure for this type of vote, in other words 36% of Catalan people with the right to vote. The new statute came into effect 9 August 2006.
Just as they had done in the Spanish Parliament, the PP and ERC, for opposite reasons, supported a no vote in the referendum. ERC claimed the low voter turnout was a response to the changes made to the original draft submitted to the Spanish Parliament. In the Catalan parliament, ERC's opposition raised tensions within the coalition government which led to an early regional election in 2006.
Comparison of referendum results
- The 1931 referendum on the Statute of Autonomy registered a voter turnout of 75.13%, of which 99.49% voted favourably to its passing, according to the official results released.
- The 1979 referendum on the Statute of Autonomy registered a voter turnout of 59.7%, of which 88.1% voted favorably.
- The 2006 referendum on the current version of the Statute registered a voter turnout of 49.41%. Of the total votes, 73.23% were in favour of the new Statute, while 20.57% were against.
Self-government under the statute
The 120 delegates of all parties with the exception of the 15 delegates of the Partido Popular approved this definition.
In the opinion of the Spanish Government this has a 'declaratory' but not a 'legal' value, since the Spanish Constitution recognises the indissoluble "unity of the Spanish Nation".
The Generalitat de Catalunya is the institution in which the self-government of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat, and the Executive Council or Government of Catalonia.
The Statute of Autonomy gives the Generalitat of Catalonia the powers that enable it to carry out the functions of self-government. These can be exclusive, concurrent, and shared with the Spanish State or executives. The Generalitat holds jurisdiction in various matters of culture, education, health, justice, environment, communications, transportation, commerce, public safety, and local governments. Catalonia has its own police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, although the Spanish government keep agents in the region for matters relating to border control, terrorism and immigration.
Most of the justice system is administered by Spanish judicial institutions. The legal system is uniform throughout Spain, with the exception of so-called "civil law", which is administered separately within Catalonia.
Differences with the Statute of 1979
The new statute sought to achieve clarification of powers and their protection from encroachment by the State, increased executive, legislative and fiscal powers and the recognition of Catalan nationhood.The overlaps and lack of clarity in how to share the powers ascribed to Autonomous Communities and the State in the Constitution had led to major conflicts and Constitutional Court determinations usually in favour of the State. The new Statute tried to define with precision every section and subsection of these powers to prevent future conflicts and give legal security in the division of powers.
Th most notable changes were:
- Definition of Catalonia as a nation in the preamble of the law, while in the 1979 Statute, Article 1 the definition was as a "nationality"
- Regulation of the national symbols of Catalonia: the flag, the national anthem, and the national day.
- Introduction of historical rights as one of the legal basis of self-government.
- Reinforcement of Catalan language as the proper language of Catalonia, establishing it the main language of Catalan administration and introducing the duty of Catalan citizens to learn it, alongside the Spanish language. The Occitan language is also recognized as an official language of Catalonia.
- Creation of an entire chapter dedicated to the rights and obligations of Catalan citizens, apart from the ones of the Spanish Constitution.
- Establishment of Vegueries as the new territorial division of Catalonia, suppression of the four Provincial Councils.
- Reinforcement of the powers of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia. Establishment of the High Prosecutor of Catalonia and the Council of Justice of Catalonia.
- Powers of the Generalitat over new matters and better definition of them, which included:
- * Religious entities
- * Landscapes
- * Popular consultations, except referendums
- * Maritime safety
- * Attention and initial support for immigrants
- * Transportation that circulates entirely through Catalan territory
- * Labour inspection
- Establishment of bilateral relations between the Generalitat and Spanish Government.
- Definition of foreign activity of Catalonia. Recognition of delegations of the Catalan government abroad.
- Extension of financing powers:
- * Creation of the Tax Agency of Catalonia, which collects and manages the own taxes of the Generalitat and those totally granted by the State
- * Increase in participation of State taxes
- * Regulation of State investments in Catalonia