The Basque and Navarran regions of Spain have the most substantial fiscal autonomy at substate level in the EU. As such, they offer important learning experiences for other EU member states where regions or nations seek greater authority over fiscal decisions, in particular the UK as it starts to devolve greater fiscal powers to Scotland. Through a focus on the Basque experience under its Economic Agreement (Concierto Económico, hereafter Concierto) with Spain, this research brief considers the implications of the EU framework for the feasibility of developing substate fiscal autonomy verging on sovereignty within member states.

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