What was intended to be a common front of the Catalan business sector to set the course for the new financing model turned into a genuine guerrilla war marked by ego clashes and political urgency. Following the agreement between the PSC and ERC, the Cambra de Comerç commissioned a text from Joan Ramon Rovira, the entity's Director of Economic Analysis. The Cambra was joined by the other members of the so-called G8, including Pimec, the Cercle d'Economia, the RACC, Barcelona Global, the FemCat foundation, the Col·legi d'Economistes, and the Fira.
It was impossible to understand anything. Too dense, technical, and detailed. The public is not interested in these stories.
The Cambra de Comerç reached out to Foment del Treball to join the agreement, which accepted on the condition of being able to make amendments. Tensions were constant, as the initial proposal was considered excessively technical and, according to Foment representatives, too "docile" towards the Govern and Minister Alícia Romero.
Foment del Treball managed to include several key demands, such as denouncing the "critical" situation of Catalan infrastructures (calculating the disinvestment at 42.5 billion euros since 2014) and legally shielding fiscal ordinality. Furthermore, it demanded the addition that Catalonia must "manage, collect, liquidate, and inspect" all its taxes, and emphasize that the agreement was "a step forward," but "not sufficient."
Ultimately, the resulting manifesto attempts a complex political balancing act, giving the Govern credit for the progress in the model, but warning that it is not a blank check. A final conflict arose when Pimec demanded that the name of the Vallès business association Cecot be removed from the signature, arguing that they are already part of Foment, despite Cecot having actively participated in the negotiations.
