The Economy of Catalonia

ing (interest rates, deadlines, warranties...) are fixed by the EBC uniformly
throughout the Eurozone. 12
Scenario No. 2: Integration after the establishment of the
independent State, but with de facto continuity
In this scenario, the new Catalan State would not be formally and simultaneously
admitted as a member of the EU on its establishment. In the
monetary field this would mean that Catalonia would not officially be a
member State of the Eurozone, as this requires membership of the EU.
Admission to the EU and, indirectly, to the Eurozone would occur only
after a negotiation process which, given the extraordinary circumstances
mentioned above, should be able to be simplified and fast. 13 In this context,
it would make sense, and be beneficial for all parties involved, for
the EU to agree on the de facto continuity of all existing rights and obligations
of Catalan citizens and companies operating in Catalonia (and,
consequently, those of non-Catalan citizens and businesses that have relations
with them) during the transitional period, between the establishment
of the State and its formal admission. This continuity would be
guaranteed if the EU continued to treat Catalonia as part of Spain, while
recognizing at the same time the legitimacy of the government of the
Catalan State already established to negotiate a fast-tracked full integration.
Thus, the formal admission process of the new country would be
detached from the rights of citizens and businesses, which would remain
intact during the transition. This «extension» of the current economic
system would have to include monetary aspects in a straightforward way.
In this way, though Catalonia would not formally be a member State of
the Eurozone during this transitional period, the euro would still be the
12. The only exception, which corresponds to the Emergency Liquidity Mechanism
(usually known by its acronym ELA), can be activated promptly in an exceptional situation
of a bank’s liquidity crisis when it cannot access normal funding mechanisms (on
account of lack of acceptable asset guarantors, for example). In such a case, the national
central bank of the jurisdiction, where the entity in question is based, can activate this
freely, but taking on board the risk of losses
13. The pragmatism displayed by the EU in cases not provided for in the Treaty was
evident with the reunification of Germany in October 1990, which amounted to the
formal integration of the 16 million citizens of East Germany, a country with an economic
structure marked by over 40 years of central planning, and with laws and institutions
hardly equivalent to those of the EU.
86 The Economy of Catalonia