Autonomous Communities: Powers and Financial Autonomy

Posted on Mar 10, 2025 in Law

Subdivisions of the Autonomous Communities

The Autonomous Communities (CCAA) hold powers in matters of territorial organization, with the following limits:

  1. Institutional guarantee of local autonomy of corporations.
  2. Guarantee a minimum.
  3. State competition of the legal foundations of public administrations. The CCAA will have executive powers and legislative development if they have assumed responsibility for administration.
  4. There are provincial provinces, which accounts for an increase in Navarra powers beyond what the statute says. In the case of the Basque Country, this is a limit to the jurisdiction of the CCAA and autonomy.
  5. Constitutional framework of financial autonomy.

Financial Autonomy (Art. 156 EC)

Art. 156 EC grants financial autonomy to fulfill the responsibilities of the CCAA, having regard to their coordination with the State Treasury and the principle of solidarity. Art. 157 EC sets out the resources of the CCAA: ceded taxes, surcharges, their own taxes, and transfers. The EC does not regulate the financing system because no one knew what the CCAA and skills would be.

Art. 158 EC contains two principles:

  1. Provides for the existence of releasing budgetary allocations in accordance with the powers assumed.
  2. To ensure the principle of solidarity for the right economic balance between the territories of Spain, establishing a territorial compensation fund for investment expenditure in all regions.

Resources of the Autonomous Communities

  1. State funding (which is unconditional): Funding is not independent in a high percentage; it depends on the state. This funding may be unconditional and be used for any public purpose.
  2. Financed independently of the state (condition): The action should target the CAAC for a particular purpose, and this creates the inter-territorial compensation fund.

Special Financial Schemes

These apply to Navarra, Guipuzcoa, Alava, and Vizcaya: They raise taxes by themselves, more than 80% of their income independently, and provide the state a share under an agreement with it.

Part of Powers

Full Powers of Government

These are those in which the State has the legislative and executive powers: Nationality, immigration and emigration, immigration and asylum, defense and armed forces, judiciary, customs and tariff regime, etc. These powers should be interpreted narrowly to prevent them from being reduced over time.

Shared Competence

There are several models:

  • The legislation for the State and implementation of the CCAA.

The legislation includes statutory authority. The regulations merely create organizations formed by the executive power and jurisdiction of the CCAA. State law will cover matters of mercantile, penal, procedural, labor, civil, etc.

  • The basic legislation for the State, and legislative development and implementation corresponds to the CCAA:

The state would cover areas such as health, social security, public administration, environment, etc.

The CCAA would address, on the other hand, the legislative development of the above areas and their implementation.

  • Other cases of state powers:

Sometimes, the EC grants powers to the ACs in terms of state law:

  1. Establishment of autonomous police, respecting a state law that regulates the security forces and state.
  2. Organization of the territorial boundaries within their territory, respecting the provisions of LOPJ.
  3. Financing of the Autonomous Communities, while respecting the financing LO of the ACs.

Powers Assumed by the Autonomous Communities

There will be full competition matters, such as the organization of their institutions of self-government. On the other hand, we have shared responsibilities and the implementation of the legislative functions of the State. There may be a case of shared executive power, so there will be two administrations in the same case. It is proposed that a single administration, the state, would require applying the principle of subsidiarity, which shall act as the competent authority closest to citizens, provided it has sufficient capacity.