Agreement between the Government and Navarra to protect traffic competition in the community after the annulment of the Supreme Court

President María Chivite and Minister Ángel Víctor Torres made the agreement public at the Palace of Navarra

The Government of Navarra and the Government of Spain have reached an agreement this Tuesday to modify the organic law of Reintegration and Improvement of the Foral Regime of Navarra (Lorafna) in order to include and "shield" traffic jurisdiction for the Provincial Community, after the Supreme Court ruling that annulled this transfer.

Once this agreement is reached between the two Governments, the text must be submitted for approval both in the Parliament of Navarra and in the Cortes Generales.

The agreement modifies article 49 of the Lorafna, explaining that "in addition to the powers and powers that it has been holding, Navarra is responsible for the execution of State legislation, as well as the functions of surveillance and traffic control." Furthermore, in article 51 a new point is added that specifies that the Provincial Police will exercise this competence.

The agreement was announced in a joint appearance at the Palace of Navarra by the President of the Government of Navarra, María Chivite, and the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, at the end of the meeting of the Navarra-State Negotiating Commission for the reform of the Lorafna.

María Chivite has highlighted that this is "a modification of the law that eliminates any interpretation other than that which was implicit in the transfer agreement, that Navarra will assume the surveillance and control of traffic on our roads." "In this way, this traffic competition is protected as a historical right of Navarra," she stressed.

As he added, "from the first moment, Navarra wanted to provide a quick and definitive solution after the Supreme Court ruling and I think it is fair to recognize that the Government of Spain has been up to the task, lending itself to a negotiation that, while still being a rigorous question, it has been as agile as we had originally requested".

Chivite explained that the Lorafna reform "requires three steps" and that this is the first step. The reformed text must now be submitted for approval in both the Parliament of Navarra and the Cortes Generales, "where it will follow the same procedure as an organic law." "I hope that the good policy that has brought us here, which is the one that is capable of sitting down, of dialogue and of reaching agreements that provide solutions, is the one that is put into practice in the debates that now await us in the different cameras, both in Navarra and in the State", he pointed out.

Regarding the deadlines and dates that are being handled, Chivite explained that the plan is to ratify the reform in the Government session this Wednesday, and then send it to the Council of Navarra - "through urgency because our idea is that we can have it approved before the end of this period of sessions" - and then return to the Government session. He would then be taken to Parliament, where he would be referred to the Government of Spain, to finally end up in the Cortes Generales.

"Therefore, I believe that before the end of the session period, before Sanfermines, everything that is the process here can be completed. From there, it is automatically sent to the -central- Government, which will have to approve in the Council of Ministers, and it is already the process in both chambers. Those deadlines do not depend on us, I cannot venture to set deadlines," he said.

In response to journalists, he indicated that "the deadlines allow" for final approval to occur "before the end of the year." "I hope that no one hinders the processing in both chambers, or delays, or delays, something that is an agreement that was adopted unanimously in the Transfer Board at the time and that has been validated by two governments. Therefore "I hope there is no one who puts a damper on this process," he said.

Asked if she fears that the absolute majority of the PP in the Senate could delay the process, Chivite responded that "it would not be consistent with the position they have maintained at other times supporting this modification." According to her, she pointed out, "if it were not approved in the Senate, it would return to Congress for ratification, because it is processed as if it were an organic law and therefore there should not be a major problem."

Minister Ángel Víctor Torres has appealed "to the maximum consensus" so that this agreement can move forward "with the maximum support and in the shortest possible time." "This will reach Congress, it will reach the Senate, and I hope that from there it will have no further steps than its publication in the Official Gazette, as the Foral Community of Navarra and the central Government have decided," he said.

Although he has appreciated that this reform has been carried out "in record time" and "with haste", he has highlighted that "rigorous, serious and coherent" steps have been taken and "appeals for this process to end as soon as possible, to see if we can get it done before summer."

In response to the media about the "reluctance" that there has been on the part of the Civil Guard to this agreement, Torres has shown "respect for any organization, group or individual person who goes to the jurisdictional bodies, to justice, to present any type of appeal, comply with the sentence and act on it, which is what we have done.

"What we have done is to act in accordance with what that ruling said and do it in the fastest, most rigorous way, and I think that taking into account that this had already been agreed through a Royal decree, there are no reasons for this has to be voted against. It is also a clear message that I send to the majority of the Popular Party in the Senate, because this was already established as such unanimously in the previous legislature," he said.

In this sense, he has assured that this reform "has the full constitutional guarantee, there are no buts." "For the sake of this agreement and also a historic demand, it should come out as soon as possible in Congress and also in the Senate," she commented.

On behalf of Navarra, the first vice president and counselor of the Presidency and Equality, Félix Taberna, participated in the meeting of the Negotiating Commission; the second vice president and counselor of Memory and Coexistence, Foreign Action and Basque, Ana Ollo; the third vice president and counselor of Housing, Youth and Migration Policies, Begoña Alfaro; and the general director of the Presidency, Open Government and Relations with the Parliament of Navarra, Joseba Asiain.

On behalf of the State, the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, attended; the Secretary of State for Territorial Policy, Arcadi España García; the General Secretary of Territorial Coordination, - Miryam Álvarez Páez; the General Director of Autonomous and Local Cooperation, Alejandra del Río; and the Government Delegate in Navarra, Alicia Echeverría.