El Gobierno Vasco arranca el curso político con la mirada puesta en vivienda, sanidad y autogobierno

The Basque Governmentwill resume its regular activity on Thursday morning, following the summer break, withthe first Governing Council of the new political year, which will take place, as usual, at the Miramar Palace in San Sebastián and will be chaired by President Imanol Pradales , who will then explain the main lines of action of the Executive for the coming months.

The Basque Government faces a numberofpolitical and social challenges ahead of the legislature . Its priorities include strengthening housing, health, social policies and self-government, in particular full compliance with the Gernika Statute. Pradales advanced these lines in June, as well as the objective of continuing to develop the government programme and seeking broad agreements beyond the current parliamentary majorities.

In addition, the General Policy Plenary will be held in September, and the pending meeting of Pradales with Pedro Sánchez is also planned, at which, among other issues, transfers to the Basque Country will be discussed.

The economic situation will also have a prominent place on the Government's agenda in an international context marked by geopolitical uncertainty, against which Pradales intends to proclaim the defenceof the interests of the Basque Country in Europe and in other international forums .

The Miramar Governing Council will therefore serve to implement the priorities of the Government for the second part of the legislature, housing, public services and self-government being some of the main axes of action in the coming months.

The Basque Parliamentwill hold a general policy plenary on 17 September, at which a number of issues relating to housing and health, self-government, the economy and taxation, among others, will have to be discussed.

Asfar as housing is concerned, tensioned areas will continue to be designated in the Basque Country to limit the price of rent, and a social housing fund of EUR 2 billion will be approved for the construction of 10 000 housing units.

In the area of health, the challenge will be to reduce waiting lists after Osakidetza has reached an agreement with doctors, although other health workers have warned that they will also demand improvements.

Withregard to self-government, Pedro Sánchez committed himself to the PNV to complete the Statute before the end of 2025, but negotiations are stalled, especially with regard to Social Security and the ports of Bilbao and Pasaia.

In the economic sphere, the Basque Country has maintained economic growth of 1.9% and is expectedto grow by 1.7% next year, although the budgets of the Members of Parliament of Álava and Gipuzkoa have not yet been approved.

Bizkaia, for its part, will have to agree on the tax reform it proposed in June, which includes the introduction of tax deductions for attracting professionals and spending on private insurance and gymnasiums.

Elections in 2027

Operationsand security on Reunited Tubesand Azkoyen will also be on the table in the coming months. Pending laws such as the "regulatory highway", which reduces the administrative processing deadlines for strategic projects to a maximum of 6 months, will also be discussed.

Basque politics will also be conditioned by the political situation in Madrid, where the Spanish Government will present the State General Budgets (probably before 30 September) and will have to negotiate with the PNV and EH Bildu.

The elections will play a special role, as the 2027 general election and the May municipal and presidential elections are on the table.