What is the Reform of Public Administrations?

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The aim of this reform is to implement a fully electronic, interconnected and transparent administration.

The two laws that regulate this reform are the Law of Common Administrative Procedure of the Public Administrations and the Law of Legal Regime of the Public Sector.

This reform is based on two complementary axes:

  • the one referring to the external relations of the Administration with citizens and companies, of which the Law of the common administrative procedure of the public administrations deals with,
  • and the one referring to the organization and internal relations within each Administration and between the different administrations, in which the Law of Legal Regime of the Public Sector focuses.

Main news for citizens

  • Citizens' electronic relations with the Administration are facilitated. To this end, the submission of writs is enabled at any time in the electronic register of any Administration, regardless of who they are addressed to.
  • The means of identification and electronic signature that can be used for administrative procedures are simplified. To this end, for example, the use of concerted electronic keys that are provided to the citizen at the time to carry out their procedure is promoted, personal assistance is established by the Administration in the use of electronic means. to those citizens who need it and it is expected that the administrations can notify the citizen, if so authorized, by message on the mobile phone that has a notification that can be consulted electronically.
  • Administrative burdens are reduced and the general rule is not to apply for original documents (for example, income tax return or registration certificates, etc.). Citizens do not need to submit photocopies of documents, but, having registered them electronically, the Administration must make the copies they need.
  • There will be a single common procedure, easier to know, without the current large number of special procedures, and an "express" administrative procedure is provided for less complex cases, so that you gain agility by reducing deadlines.
  • The possibility of reducing the amount of penalties for payment or for recognition of liability is widespread for all administrative procedures.
  • On the other hand, the public will be able to know the main reforms that it plans to approve each year through the so-called Annual Regulatory Plan.

Main news for companies

  • Companies will be required to interact electronically with all administrations, as they already do with the Tax Agency and Social Security, and will be able to grant powers of attorney electronically so that their representants carry out administrative procedures. To facilitate this task, they will have an administrative register of powers of attorney at their disposal.
  • Administrative burdens are reduced by not requiring, as a general rule, documents that have been previously submitted or prepared by the Administration itself (for example: licenses or authorizations already issued).
  • At the state level, a common date (January and June) is generally set for the entry into force of the rules that impose obligations on professionals and companies for the development of their economic or professional activity, which will allow companies to be able to plan their activity with more certainty and better adapt to regulatory changes.

Major transparència and more agile operation of Public Administrations

Greater agility both for the management of administrative procedures, by providing that all communications between administrations will be fully electronic in all its procedures, which will reduce processing time, and in the processes of elaboration of rules, by providing, in at the state level, an abbreviated procedure, which will make it easier to provide faster regulatory responses to certain problems.

This is joined by different measures that deepen the path of transparència initiated last year. Among them, the creation of a single and public inventory of all the bodies and entities linked or dependent on all the Administrations stands out. Any citizen and company will be able to know which bodies and public entities exist at any time in any Administration, to which is added that all state bodies and entities, regardless of their name, will have to add the acronyms that identify their legal nature. This will contribute to improving their signage in the market in a clear and easy way for their legal identification by any operator.

To delve deeper into the improvement of the transparència A new state register is also created which will contain the entire list of cooperation bodies in which the General State Administration participates, as well as the agreements that the State has signed with other administrations.

On the other hand, it also gains in transparència in the procedures for drafting regulations by providing for a public consultation via the website prior to the drafting of regulatory proposals. There will also be an evaluation of regulatory initiatives approved the previous year as an ex post control mechanism, with the aim of analysing the effects of their application, the degree of compliance with their objectives and making, if necessary, proposals for modification or repeal.

In addition, sectoral conferences (the main body for cooperation between the State and the Autonomous Communities) must be informed about draft regulations, when they affect the area of ​​competence of other public administrations, with the aim of improving exchange. of information between the different administrations and to avoid the appearance of duplications.

Greater control and discipline of the Public Administrations to reinforce the fiscal consolidation

The Public Sector Legal Regime Bill simplifies the institutional public sector, streamlining in the future the types of public entities and bodies that may exist at the state level, and establishes a complete, more agile and efficient regime of transformations. , mergers, dissolution, liquidation and extinction of state public entities and bodies. In this new regime, the regulation of new causes of dissolution of entities deserves special attention, in particular when they are in economic imbalance for two years or it is found that they are no longer suitable to fulfill the purposes that justified their creation.

New controls are created on public sector entities and bodies, both for continuous monitoring, to periodically assess compliance with the action plan and its financial sustainability, and for monitoring effectiveness, to assess whether they are achieving the objectives for which were created.

In addition, the creation of new state agencies and entities to prevent their unjustified proliferation is becoming more demanding. The prior elaboration of an action plan and mandatory report from the Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations will be required, which will assess the need for its creation, sustainability and the absence of duplications with other existing entities.

For greater rigor and better control, the minimum content of agreements signed between public administrations is clarified, and the mandatory procedures and reports to which they must be submitted are regulated, especially when they involve financial contributions.eres, including the obligation to report to the Court of Auditors.

Better cooperation and coordination between the different public administrations

For the first time, a law regulates the basic elements of the composition and operation of the Conference of Presidents, formed by the Prime Minister and the regional presidents.

Sectoral conferences are regulated more precisely as essential bodies of cooperation between the State and the Autonomous Communities, where the ministers and councilors responsible for the matter meet regularly. For the first time, its Agreements will, in general, be binding.

Finally, it also includes specific measures to improve the functioning of the General State Administration, including the requirement for members of the Government, Secretaries of State, Undersecretaries, Secretaries General, Government Delegates and General Directors of the suitability requirements provided for in Law 3/2015, of 30 March, regulating the exercise of the high position of the General State Administration or the provision of the electronic processing of proposals and agreements of the Council of Ministers.

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