The University of Barcelona goes ahead with a budget marked by the decline of funding from Generalitat de Catalunya
Today the Governing Council of the University of Barcelona has approved, with a vote against, the budget for 2017, which is about 371,68 million euros, quite similar to the one for 2016, which was of 371,69 million euros. The figures keep the budget balance that the University maintained over the last years. Now the Board of Trustees will have to definitely confirm the budget due next June 21.
Today the Governing Council of the University of Barcelona has approved, with a vote against, the budget for 2017, which is about 371,68 million euros, quite similar to the one for 2016, which was of 371,69 million euros. The figures keep the budget balance that the University maintained over the last years. Now the Board of Trustees will have to definitely confirm the budget due next June 21.
Regarding the income, the funding from Generalitat de Catalunya, which is of 212,11 million euros in the budget for 2017, has lowered by 0,4% compared to 2016, which was 212,98, and it accounts for a 57% of the income of the UB. Within the income items, the final income is what accounts for a major increase regarding the 2016 budget, a 6,4%.
The expenditures in 2017 are balanced with the income and represent 371,68 million euros. In these lines, the expenditures with final funding account for an increase of 6,4%. The expenses related to the staff are the higher ones, with an amount of 250,97 million euros, which means that chapter 1 cannot be covered with public funding.
The Vice-Rector for Economy of the University of Barcelona, Oriol Escardíbul, said that these budgets, approved in June as a consequence of the rectorʼs office elections in 2016, have been influenced by the deline of funding from Generalitat de Catalunya, the investment in the building extension of the Faculty of Law, and the difficulties in chapter 1 corresponding to the staff. This year, the assumed cost will be 8,8 million euros, 41,6 of them representing the new building, to be paid over the coming 10 years. Escardíbul said that when setting up the accounts there was little room to maneuver and that they kept negotiation with Generalitat de Catalunya to get more resources. The Vice-Rector pointed out, in a critical way, that “the autonomy of the university are 7 million euros (corresponding to policies) out of the total 372, which makes it to be practically inexistent”.
Support to CRUE statement and the European Medicines Agency
The Governing Council, following the initiative by Rector Joan Elias, supports the statement published by the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE), which urges political parties and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport to remove the replacement tax, as well as to take measures to stabilize temporary work and the improvement of internal promotion within the collectives in Administration and Service Staff and Teaching and Researching Staff.
Moreover, the body also showed a position in favour of supporting the candidacy of Barcelona as headquarters of the European Medicines Agency.
In the report, the rector of the University of Barcelona reclaimed the University of Barcelona, Univesitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya to join forces, seen in the press release their rectors held last May. Elias said the University of Barcelona will constantly report the comparative grievance of the UB in the Catalan university system.
Elias also highlighted the great political meaning of the cession of genetic samples of the DNA Bank of Civil War Victims to Generalitat de Catalunya.