The Economy of Catalonia

For the purposes of economic analysis, Catalonia is nothing exceptional
but rather just one of the 273 territorial units of level NUTS 2 into
which the EU is structured since the end of 2013.
Catalonia should form a part of Europe for historical, political and economic
reasons.
The historical reasons are tied to Catalonia’s Carolingian origin, even
though, later, the Catalonia integrated into Spain lived for centuries with its
back to Europe. Indeed, it did so until Spain joined what was then the European
Community, on 1 January 1986, which helped to correct this anomaly.
The political reasons are based on democratic values and principles and on
the rule of law, which are proclaimed in the Treaty on European Union,
the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the EU Charter
of Fundamental Rights. Catalonia believes in all this, as it showed when
voting massively in favour of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, which established
the democratic rights under which Spain’s society has been living
since then, in line with European principles and values.
The reasons involving regional economic integration, without going
into commercial or fiscal matters which lie outside the scope of this
chapter, are a consequence of the fact that, in the globalisation era and
considering Catalonia’s geographical location, to stand outside the European
economic territory with its 500 million people would make little sense
because Catalonia does not have any special competitive advantages (oil,
banking, etc.) such as those possessed by other European countries which
have not joined the European Union (Norway, Switzerland…).
Upholding these three lines of arguments, the people who demonstrated
and those who organised the demonstration of 11 September 2012 were
right when they demanded that an independent Catalonia should form
part of Europe. Likewise, the president of the Generalitat (the Catalan
Government), Artur Mas, was right when he stated that, if Catalonia were
not to form part of the EU, its independence would be quite problematic.
This having been said, and inasmuch as it is something that everybody
agrees on, I will devote these pages to discussing, firstly, the historical,
political and economic arguments explaining why an independent Catalonia
outside the EU would make no sense. After that I will discuss the
possibilities of an independent Catalonia continuing to be a member of
the EU and of the Eurozone (just as it is at present as a part of Spain,
54 The Economy of Catalonia