The Andalusian branch of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) has criticized the elimination of prior expenditure controls by the General Intervention to speed up the payment of certain items, a system that the People’s Party (PP) denounced in the ERE case during the socialist era. The Junta published an agreement ten days ago to replace prior expenditure control with permanent financial control in expenses, grants, and subsidies from eight ministries, meaning that auditors would review the items afterward rather than beforehand. Lack of control was one of the main reasons that led to the ERE fraud, with aid from the Andalusian Employment Ministry lacking prior oversight. In the 1990s, the Junta created around 200 public companies to speed up investments and decision-making outside of auditors’ supervision, leading to the creation of permanent financial controls, a system that the PP claimed led to corruption in the socialist era and that is now being brought back by their leader, Juan Manuel Moreno.
Socialist spokesman Josele Aguilar criticized Moreno for applying the same system that he denounced in the ERE case after eliminating prior expenditure controls in the Junta. The issue with ERE controls was that Idea files were audited afterward, except for those with high amounts sent to the Government Council. Reparations were dealt with two or three years later, by which time the process had often changed. Now, 13 years after the start of the ERE case, the Junta is reintroducing permanent financial control for electoral expenses in regional elections from the Presidency Ministry and expenditure files from six ministries, including funds from the European Guarantee Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
Subsidies from the Employment Ministry stand out on the list, the same ministry where the fraud originated 25 years ago, given in non-competitive concurrence to promote employment recovery. These are handpicked grants awarded for various reasons, avoiding competition from multiple companies. The PSOE pointed out that the PP, who acted as a public prosecutor throughout the case, criticizing the reduction in Interventions’ controls as a corrupt and embezzling measure. They accused them of allowing expenses or subsidies without prior verification from the intervention.
Aguilar attacked the Andalusian president, accusing Moreno of applying the same system he denounced the PSOE for and classified as corrupt and embezzling, to speed up expenses in the Junta. The Junta argues that the current agreement is different from what the PSOE did with the EREs, as the PP replaces prior controls with permanent control, whereas the PSOE eliminated controls altogether. The aim is to expedite grant payments without compromising the necessary guarantees. This administrative simplification ensures all controls are in place while expediting the aid processing.
The change in the oversight process is legal, and it remains to be seen if it will affect auditors’ reviews, as they will no longer be able to halt certain grants’ approval, only verifying compliance. The Economy Ministry declined to disclose the exact number of grants and subsidies or their share of the Junta’s total budget, estimated at around 47 billion euros. The goal is to ensure that beneficiaries receive their grants promptly while maintaining the necessary controls to avoid any misuse of funds.
