CMCE agrees to increase funding for Dependency in the Basque Country, raising resources by almost €250 million per year (166%)

On 9 July, the Joint Economic Agreement Committee (CMCE) met online, adopting a single unanimous resolution for the approval of supplementary funding for the System for Autonomy and Care for Dependency in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.

The Basque side was represented by Noël d’Anjou, Basque Minister for Treasury and Finance; María Ubarretxena, Basque Minister for Governance, Digital Administration and Self-Government; Ramiro González, Deputy General of Araba; Elixabete Etxanobe, Deputy General of Bizkaia; Eider Mendoza, Deputy General of Gipuzkoa; and Iñaki Alonso, Deputy Minister for Finance. For its part, the General State Administration was represented by Arcadi España, Minister of Finance; Jesús Gascón, Secretary of State for Finance, who was also acting on behalf of Agustín Torres, Secretary-General for Territorial Coordination; María José Gualda, Secretary of State for Budgets and Expenditure; Miryam Álvarez, Secretary of State for Territorial Policy; and Mónica García, Secretary-General for Regional and Local Finance.

Law 39/2006, of 14 December, on the Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Care (the Dependency Act) laid the foundations for the development of the System for Autonomy and Care for Dependency (SAAD). The Dependency Act establishes three distinct levels of protection: the minimum level, the agreed level and the additional level.

The legislation also sets out the State’s funding commitments in relation to the minimum and agreed levels. The involvement of Basque institutions in this State-funded financing is organised in accordance with the Economic Agreement system. To this end, since 2007, various agreements have been reached between the Basque institutions and the State within the framework of the CMCE to establish the mechanisms and implement the Basque Country’s financial contribution to the funding provided by the State.

In view of the developments in the obligations arising from the management of dependency, the authorities represented on the Joint Committee on the Economic Agreement, at their meeting on 10 April 2025, agreed that the envisaged level of coverage must be supplemented in order to adequately fulfil the obligations and objectives set out in the Dependency Act.

At that meeting on 10 April 2025, it was agreed that State funding would amount to 50% of the Basque authorities’ total expenditure for the financial year on the administration of the SAAD. To implement this Agreement, a working group made up of representatives from the various public authorities represented within the CMCE was set up to examine and draw up an implementation methodology. At the CMCE meeting on 25 March 2026, the analyses and the basis for establishing this methodology were presented and discussed, and deadlines were set for final approval.

Following a lengthy process of analysis, study and negotiations by all the authorities involved, the final methodology for reviewing and supplementing the State-funded model, in accordance with the Economic Agreement model, was approved at the CMCE meeting on 9 July 2026.

This methodology uses the total adjusted expenditure of the Basque authorities on dependency as a basis for calculating, on an annual basis, the supplementary funding to which the Basque Country is entitled, in order to ensure that the funding provided by the State Administration amounts to 50% of the Basque authorities’ total expenditure on the management of the SAAD each year. In order to determine the total adjusted annual expenditure, the methodology sets out certain technical criteria for allocation and standardisation which ensure its proportionality and correct application.

In order to adapt its implementation from the 2026 financial year onwards and to facilitate an orderly transition to the new funding framework, the Agreement sets out provisional supplementary funding for the 2026 and 2027 financial years.

Thanks to the amendment agreed at the CMCE regarding the funding framework for Dependency, the total funding provided by the State will increase significantly from this financial year, 2026:

In addition to the increase in resources resulting from the Agreement, it is also important to highlight the permanent and guaranteed nature of that funding, in line with the bilateral and mutually agreed nature of the CMCE agreements, which provides greater certainty for all Basque public administrations when drawing up their future budgets.

In this regard, the incorporation of this agreement and of the methodology it approves into the Economic Agreement model ensures that this level of funding is not subject to any legislative amendments that may be made by the State Parliament, and is consistent with the principles of bilateralism and mutual agreement that are inherent to the Economic Agreement system. We would therefore emphasise that this agreement helps to reinforce the unique nature of the Basque Country’s economic and financial self-government.

This agreement by the CMCE – one of the most significant in financial terms in the last decade – brings to a close a series of agreements and commitments adopted in successive joint committees since the start of this term of the Basque Government. Specifically, this CMCE is the sixth to be held between the Basque institutions and the State Administration since the one held on 13 November 2024; in total, 46 agreements have been reached on a wide range of issues, all of which are key to safeguarding and continually updating the economic, fiscal and financial self-government of the Basque institutions. This list of agreements demonstrates the capacity for consensus and dialogue between different governments, highlighting the potential of the Economic Agreement as a useful and fully up-to-date instrument for regulating the model of relations between the Basque Country and the State, based on bilateralism, consensus and mutual respect.

It also reinforces the principle that greater self-government leads to greater well-being, since this agreement addresses a key area – namely, care for people in situations of dependency. This is important for the well-being of the entire population, while strengthening the financial capacity of Basque institutions to meet the needs arising from benefits and services that are directly linked to the challenge posed by demographic change.