Revista d'Estudis Autonòmics i Federals (Apr 2008)
FINANCIACIÓN AUTONÓMICA Y CONTROL DE CONSTITUCIONALIDAD (ALGUNAS REFLEXIONES SOBRE LA STC 13/2007)
Abstract
The recently reformed statutes of autonomy have regulated with detail whichare the revenue sources of their respective Autonomous Communities. However,in doing it so, the statutes do not have a complete margin of manoeuvre. Infact, according to the Spanish Constitution (article 153.3), the regulation ofthe exercise of the financial revenues by the Autonomous Communities andof the financial collaboration of the latter with Spanish central government’sinstitutions corresponds to a specific Spanish law: the Organic Law on theFinancing of the Autonomous Communities – Ley Orgánica de Financiaciónde las Comunidades Autónomas, LOFCA). Therefore, one question arises:which norm (statute or LOFCA) prevails in case of conflict.From this perspective, the author analyses a concrete case: that of the conflictbetween some provisions of the 2007 Andalusian statute and the LOFCA.He starts by pointing out that the 2007 statute of autonomy of Andalusiaestablishes that central government should grant Andalusia with complementaryfunds in order to balance Andalusia’s historical socio-economicalgap. The previous statute also referred to it and, in fact, there were some legislativedevelopments on the issue, together with a ruling by the ConstitutionalCourt (ruling 13/2007).Since this specific financial issue established in the 2007 Andalusian statuteis not considered in the LOFCA, the above-mentioned question applies, thatis, which norm, the statute or the LOFCA, does prevail. In this sense, firstlythe author examines how and to which extent the Constitutional Court cancontrol the ensemble of norms (Constitution, statutes, LOFCA) that allocatethe financing powers among the different levels of government. Secondly,he critically analyses how the ruling of the Constitutional Court (13/2007)decides on the apparent contradiction between the statutes and the LOFCAon the subject, and he concludes that the 13/2007 ruling goes far beyondthe literal interpretation of the norms.
