The Basque Government approves the Education Department’s Strategic Subsidy Plan 2023

• The Governing Council authorises borrowing operations for 2023 for a maximum amount of €1,197M 

• The Lehendakari will ask the vice-president Calviño for co-governance in the management of European funds

The spokesperson for the Basque Government and Minister for Culture and Language Policy, Bingen Zupiria, appeared at the usual press conference after the Governing Council, together with the Minister for Education, Jokin Bildarratz.

For his part, the Minister of Education presented the Strategic Plan for Subsidies 2023 of the Department of Education, approved today by the Governing Council. This document contains all the calls for subsidies managed by the four Vice-Ministries and the twelve Directorates of the Department of Education.

Jokin Bildarratz explained that this Plan, of a programmatic nature, is set up as a planning instrument for the policy of the Department of Education, in that its aim is to promote an activity of public utility or social interest or to promote the achievement of a public purpose, through the granting of subsidies. “With this Plan, we guarantee an increase in the levels of effectiveness and efficiency, as well as the strengthening of transparency in our field of action”, he pointed out. 

The Department of Education currently has a total of 113 lines of subsidies, the total amount of which for 2023 is 175,446,963 euros. Among these 113 lines, the Minister of Education has highlighted the grants and aid for schooling, university grants, and those aimed at promoting the mobility of students (both university and vocational training) or research staff.

AGREEMENTS OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL

As usual, the spokesperson, Bingen Zupiria, provided information on the agreements of the Governing Council, including the following:

The Governing Council has agreed to carry out one or several issues of Public Debt, thereby authorising the arrangement of loan operations for a maximum amount equivalent to almost 1,200,000,000,000 euros in accordance with the provisions of the Law approving the General Budgets of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country for the financial year 2023. According to this law, the indebtedness formalised by the Administration of the Autonomous Community may be increased with the limitation that the balance at the close of the financial year does not exceed the corresponding balance at the beginning of the year by more than 419,159,000 euros.

Linked to the Department of Equality, Justice and Social Policies, the Government has approved the distribution of European funds for the financing of projects on the care economy and the reinforcement of equality and social inclusion policies that are contemplated in the European Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience, approved in April 2021. According to this distribution for the 2022 financial year, the Basque Government will receive 4,400,000 euros; the Provincial Council of Araba, 5,700,000 euros; the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, 17,700,000 euros; and the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, 11,800,000 euros. As Zupiria explained, the main objective of the European Shock Plan for the Care Economy and equality and social inclusion policies is the modernisation and reinforcement of all social services, with special attention to the long-term care model, the promotion of innovation and the Person-Centred Care model.

Likewise, the Governing Council today approved the “Berdintzen 2023” grants from the Department of Culture and Language Policy, which aim to promote research work in the field of Basque and gender equality and thus complete the framework of knowledge on gender and language. In total, there will be four grants of 7,500 euros each.

Meeting between the Lehendakari and Calviño

With regard to the meeting scheduled for next Friday between the Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu and the vice-president Nadia Calviño, the Basque Government spokesman explained that the Lehendakari’s intention is to request co-governance in the management of European funds.