Urkullu stressed that he saw self-government as "the way in which we establish political institutions for ourselves, with all that this means in terms of society, the economy, education and culture. The framework of law and the Economic Agreement are tools of self-government for the development of all across-the-board public-sector policies for the construction of Euskadi".

"The framework of the statute must be reformed to strengthen self-government on the basis of a bilateral system of assurances that can make for institutional stability in the framework of relations agreed and prevent any unilateral restriction of the level of self-government" he stated.

He also stressed that he wanted to do this "starting with and from society. We must be clear on what we are and how we came to be".

"That is why we are proposing a reform of the current framework. A reform that incorporates the principle of the "authority to decide" which is linked to the idea of identity and the politics of the Basque nation but, contrary to the assertions of those who wish it to be constrained to that alone, is also linked to the regulatory authority of Basque institutions in the development of integrated public-sector policies".

"The authority to decide", he stressed, "means, I repeat, deciding freely within a bilateral system of assurances on the possibilities of furthering self-government, in a consensus-based framework that prevents any unilateral restriction of the levels of self-government attained now and in the future".

Mr. Urkullu emphasised that "we have proposed that a social dialogue be opened, a process of participation involving the Basque public in which we can compare our political, economic and social principles and our willingness to work out an agreement with which to continue building Euskadi, strengthening and extending self-government".

He ended by saying that "EAJ-PNV is the main party in the Basque Country, and we are shouldering our responsibility as such by submitting this initiative, which is aimed at society as a whole. After due discussion, we see no inconvenience in tabling the initiative for development as necessary in whatever forum may be appropriate for political debate in pursuit of a nationwide agreement".