Andoni Montes, researcher of the Ituna Centre for Basque Economic Agreement and Federalism Studies and professor at the faculty of Economics and Business of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) has published a new academic article in «Revista d’Estudis Autonòmics i Federals – Journal of Self-Government». Montes, expert in regional financing issues, has focused his article «An Economic Agreement for Scotland?» on the economic and financial side of the Scottish case, in comparison withe Basque Economic Agreement. This issue 34 of the Journal includes a wide range of articles related to the subject of the journal, separated into a monographic section and a general one. In the first place, the monographic section of this issue offers new, specialised articles about the self-governing of indigenous peoples, while the second section offers us four research projects that combine case studies and academic debates within the theories of federalism.
Summary of Montes’ article
Since the devolution process in the United Kingdom began in 1997, the funding system for devolved institutions has been discussed constantly by academics and in the media, particularly in Scotland. Currently, transfers are regulated under the recently amended Barnett formula, which indexes Block Grant devolutions to English public expenditures and is often considered insufficient to establish a desirable incentive scheme for decentralised institutions. Because of Brexit and its consequences for Britain’s devolution process, tackling this issue has become an urgent issue. The Basque Economic Agreement with Spain, characterised by high levels of tax autonomy and strict fiscal co-responsibility, could conceivably inspire a reconfigured financial relationship between Scotland and Westminster. This paper simulates the mechanical impact of the application of the principles of the Basque Economic Agreement to the Scottish case for devolved government income. Even if it is likely to provide Scotland with a lower expenditure capacity (ceteris paribus), such a scheme could increase fiscal efficiency while also safeguarding self-government and providing the political stability that the United Kingdom needs, given the current weakness of the union due to a challenging socio-economic and political context.
The full article is available here.
Revista d’Estudis Autonòmics i Federals – Journal of Self-Government is a free and open access journal that began to be published in 2005 with the aim of making it available to research and academic fields, and in general to people who study the different systems of territorial political decentralization , a specialized forum for theoretical reflection and debate, characterized by quality and scientific rigor. It is a multidisciplinary journal with biannual periodicity that includes work carried out both from the legal field and from political science, political theory or economics. It is edited by the Ministry of the Presidency of the Government of Catalonia.
