Basque Fiscal Systems: History, Current Status, and Future Perspectives

The "Concierto Ecónomico" or Economic Agreement regulates the fiscal ties between the Spanish state and the Basque provinces. Responding within the general framework of the 2010 financial crisis, the Documentation Centre for the Economic Agreement and the Foral Treasuries, a research group within the University of the Basque Country, presents an overall reflection on the system of the Economic Agreement, the management and overall status of the Basque provinvial treasuries. The contributions brought together in this volume try to answer questions raised in academic and nonacademic circles including: the origins and history of the economic agreement, public finances and public opinion, and the legal underpinning of the agreement. The Economic Agreement, furthermore, is a basic element in the self-government of the Basque Country and this book is an essential tool for understanding it and its broader relation to Basque society. But the Economic Agreement is not solely a matter for the Basque Country or even to Spain. It is also being examined in the European courts and in the studies of comparative fiscal federalism. This book fills a gap in the literature of the Basque Economic Agreement and on fiscal culture and its practice, fiscal federalism, and complex political unions such as the European Union.