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What it is

Proposal for an independent body to vet top officials

Committee step 4 of 7 · Unfinished

It is a members’ bill. Introduced by parliamentary groups, the Senate, regional governments or citizens. It was introduced on 14 December 2016. Introduced by: Grupo Parlamentario Ciudadanos.

Official title: Private member's bill to guarantee the independence of appointments in regulatory bodies.

Follow this law

Source: Congreso de los Diputados, file 122/000053· updated 11 Nov

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

  1. The bill aims to stop the Government from appointing heads of regulatory bodies based on political loyalty. It argues that, today, the appointing authority itself decides whether a candidate is suitable.
  2. The bill would create an Independent State Appointments Commission. It would issue a prior report on the suitability, merit, capacity and independence of candidates who must appear before Congress before being appointed.
  3. The Commission would have seven members with technical profiles, such as a Supreme Court judge, who would chair it, or a university professor. Members would be chosen by lottery and renewed every two years, with no extension.
  4. The Commission's favorable report would not be needed if the proposing body had previously asked it to run a public selection of three to five suitable candidates, from which it would pick the nominee.

Who it affects

  • Government: The Government would need the Commission's report before proposing candidates for senior positions.
  • Candidates for senior positions: Candidates for the listed positions (Council of State, regulatory bodies, Economic and Social Council, EFE agency and the Spanish Data Protection Agency) would have to pass the prior report and appear before Congress.
  • Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados): Congress committees would examine the candidates and issue an opinion on their suitability or possible conflicts of interest.

Words worth knowing

Organismo regulador (regulatory body)
A public body that oversees and sets rules for a sector, such as energy or financial markets.
Idoneidad (suitability)
That a person meets the honesty, training and experience requirements needed for a position.
Alto cargo (senior official)
A person holding a top responsibility post in the State Administration.
Comparecencia (appearance)
A person appearing before a parliamentary committee to answer questions.

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries

Where it stands

How far did it get?

It took 4 of 7 steps. It reached Committee, and today it is unfinished.

  1. Introduced14 December 2016Someone registers the text in the Congreso.
  2. Admitted20 December 2016The Bureau of the Congreso accepts it and, for a members’ bill, the plenary decides whether to consider it.
  3. Amendments13 October 2017Groups propose changes.
  4. Committee14 February 2018A committee goes through the text in detail.
  5. Plenarynot reachedAll 350 deputies vote.
  6. Senatenot reachedThe Senate can pass it, amend it or veto it.
  7. BOEnot reachedIt is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and comes into force.
See the 10 official steps on a timeline
Dec 2016Mar 2017Jun 2017Sept 2017Dec 2017Mar 2018Jun 2018Sept 2018Dec 201811. 14 December 2016: Presentación22. 20 December 2016: Boletín Oficial de las Cortes Generales Publicación desde 20/12/2016 hasta 23/12/201633. 20 December 2016: Calificación44. 23 December 2016: Gobierno Contestación desde 23/12/2016 hasta 03/03/201755. 3 March 2017: Pleno Toma en consideración desde 03/03/2017 hasta 28/09/201766. 28 September 2017: Mesa del Congreso Acuerdo subsiguiente a la toma en consideración desde 28/09/2017 hasta 28/09/201777. 10 October 2017: Comisión Constitucional Publicación desde 10/10/2017 hasta 13/10/201788. 13 October 2017: Comisión Constitucional Enmiendas desde 13/10/2017 hasta 14/02/201899. 14 February 2018: Comisión Constitucional Informe desde 14/02/2018 hasta 05/03/20191010. 5 March 2019: Concluido - (Caducado) desde 05/03/2019 hasta 27/03/2019

28 September 2017

How did the plenary vote?

More votes in favour 324 yes · 5 no · 16 abst.

Voted on: Private member's bill by the Ciudadanos Parliamentary Group, to guarantee the independence of appointments in regulatory bodies.

Source: Congreso de los Diputados, vote 1 of sitting 75· updated 10 Nov

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Your province

How did the deputies from your province vote?

And your senators: the Senate does not link its votes to this law in its open data, so we cannot put them side by side here.

Or see how most of each province voted
More details: how each group and each province voted

The groups

Who voted in favour and who against?

In favour, most of Socialista, Mixto, Ciudadanos, Gcup-ec-em and Popular en el Congreso. Against, most of Vasco (EAJ-PNV). 7 deputies voted differently from their group.

By province: in 50 most voted in favour; in 0, against.

Coloured by how most of each province’s deputies voted.

  • In favour: 50
  • Against: 0
  • Abstained: 1
  • Tie: 1
Result by parliamentary group
GroupSeatsHow it voted
Socialista84
84 in favour
Vasco (EAJ-PNV)5
5 against
Mixto19
10 in favour · 7 abst. · 2 did not vote
Ciudadanos32
32 in favour
Gcup-ec-em67
66 in favour · 1 did not vote
GER9
9 abst.
Popular en el Congreso134
132 in favour · 2 did not vote

What happens next

What happens now?

The legislature ended before it finished. To go on, someone would have to introduce it again in the new Cortes.

It has not been presented again yet.

Sources

Where does all this come from?

  • The data comes from the open files of the Congreso, the Senate and the BOE, unaltered.
  • Each deputy’s province is the one of their seat on the day of the vote.
  • We only say “passed” or “rejected” when the majority needed is certain; otherwise we say which side had more votes.

Read the full method · Report an error