- The Commission was chaired by the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, and the representation of the Basque Country was headed by the Councillor for Public Governance and Self-Government, Olatz Garamendi
- Ángel Víctor Torres highlights the transfer of these three new competences as “another example of the constant agreements of the Government of Spain with the autonomous communities, in the development of the Constitution and the statutes of autonomy”
The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, has chaired the meeting of the Joint Commission on Transfers Administration of the State - Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, which has ratified the transfer of three competences agreed between the Government and the Basque Country, in the following matters: railway service of proximity, homologation and equalization of university degrees and system of reception of migrants. The representation of the Basque Country in the meeting by videoconference of the Joint Commission on Transfers was headed by the Minister of Public Governance and Self-Government, Olatz Garamendi. First transfers of the XV Legislature The three transfers ratified today by the Joint Transfer Commission are the first of the XV Legislature, “fruit of the permanent collaboration between both administrations and reveal the will to continue advancing in the constitutional order and the statutory development,” said Ángel Víctor Torres. The minister stressed that “the new transfers of competences are another example of the constant agreements reached by the Government of Spain with the autonomous communities and with them we deepen the decentralization and strengthen the State of the autonomies”. He also stressed that the pacts “are the result of permanent dialogue between the ministries involved and the Basque Government, whom I thank for their willingness to understand and cooperate during the months of negotiation.” In the three transfers ratified today, monitoring bodies are created, composed of representatives of the State Administration and the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, to ensure the good development of services from day one and with the ultimate objective of providing a more efficient and higher quality service to citizens. Passenger transport by commuter rail The first of the agreements is the transfer of the passenger transport service by rail, which includes the “Commuter Centres” of Bilbao and San Sebastián and the railway services between Karrantza and Bilbao, Araia Vitoria/Gasteiz and Vitoria/Gasteiz with Manzanos Ribera Baja. Once the agreement is published in the BOE, a period of six months will be opened for the Basque Country to be subrogated in the State contract with RENFE for the provision of these services. The transfer also includes a commitment from the State of investment in railway infrastructure in the Basque Country, which becomes the first Autonomous Community to receive these functions in an integral way, which establish a new decentralized model of management of transport services by commuter rail. Homologation and declaration of equivalence of university degrees The second transfer agreement deepens the competences in education, completing the transfer approved in 2011 with the homologation and declaration of equivalence of university degrees (until now the autonomy could make homologations only up to the level of secondary education). It can be requested by residents of the Basque Country. The agreement, the first transfer in this matter, will enter into force on July 1, 2024. The General Administration of the State shall retain the normative power to regulate the conditions for obtaining, issuing and approving degrees; the regulation of the recognition of foreign university studies; and the determination of the correspondence at the level of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education of official university degrees belonging to previous academic orders. Second phase of the system of personal autonomy The Basque Country assumes functions such as the provision of social, psychological, legal and cultural support or socio-occupational advice. It is the first transfer in this matter, putting in place a new model of distribution of competences in the system of reception of international protection, with which the autonomous communities will carry out actions, benefits or services in favor of persons benefiting from temporary international protection. For example, for people who have been granted refugee status by the State under international law. This transfer will enter into force on January 1, 2025. The AGE will continue to exercise the functions of legislation and the exercise of regulatory authority relating to international protection; the processing of applications for international protection, temporary protection or statelessness; the determination of the basic requirements of benefits; the basic standards, criteria and indicators for monitoring actions; the approval of the protocols for referral of beneficiaries; and the maintenance of the information centre.