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What it is

Bill would tighten control and sanctions over regional foreign action

Admitted step 2 of 7 · Unfinished

It is a members’ bill. Introduced by parliamentary groups, the Senate, regional governments or citizens. It was introduced on 9 September 2019. Introduced by: Grupo Parlamentario Ciudadanos.

Official title: Private member's bill to guarantee the coordination, cooperation, and institutional loyalty of the Autonomous Communities in the development of the State's External Action.

Follow this law

Source: Congreso de los Diputados, file 122/000044· updated 11 Nov

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

  1. The bill would require Autonomous Communities, Autonomous Cities and local entities to get prior authorization from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for any activity abroad, including trips, visits and agreements.
  2. Prior authorization would also be required to open foreign promotion offices abroad. These offices would preferably be located inside State Foreign Service premises and would display the 'Acción Exterior de España' label.
  3. It would create the Sectoral Conference on Foreign Action, a body where the State and the regions take part in designing and planning foreign policy.
  4. It would set up a sanctioning regime with minor, serious and very serious offenses, with fines from €10,000 to €1.5 million, and penalties such as immediate removal from office or disqualification from political appointments for five to ten years.
  5. Regional offices abroad could be closed as a sanction, and even temporarily closed while proceedings are under way.
  6. The law would be passed under the State's exclusive power over international relations and would take effect the day after its publication in the Official State Gazette.

Who it affects

  • Autonomous Communities and Autonomous Cities: They would need prior authorization from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their activities, agreements and offices abroad, and could be sanctioned for non-compliance.
  • Local entities: Their activities abroad would also require prior authorization and would have to follow their regions' plans.
  • Entities linked to public administrations: Foundations, consortia and dependent bodies would have to report their foreign activities under the authorization regime.
  • Regional and local senior officials and authorities: They could face warnings, removal from office or disqualification, as well as fines.
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation: It would gain supervisory, authorization and sanctioning powers over all foreign action.

Words worth knowing

Acción Exterior del Estado (State Foreign Action)
The set of actions Spanish public bodies carry out abroad within their areas of authority.
Lealtad institucional (institutional loyalty)
The duty of public administrations to act in a coordinated way and respect one another.
Conferencia Sectorial (Sectoral Conference)
A body where the central government and regional governments meet to coordinate on a specific area.
Artículo 155 de la Constitución (Article 155 of the Constitution)
A mechanism allowing the Spanish government to take control of a region's institutions in extreme cases.

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 2 of 7 steps. It reached Admitted, and today it is unfinished.

  1. Introduced9 September 2019Someone registers the text in the Congreso.
  2. Admitted17 September 2019The Bureau of the Congreso accepts it and, for a members’ bill, the plenary decides whether to consider it.
  3. Amendmentsnot reachedGroups propose changes.
  4. Committeenot reachedA 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 5 official steps on a timeline
Sept 2019Sept 2019Sept 2019Oct 201911. 9 September 2019: Presentación22. 17 September 2019: Boletín Oficial de las Cortes Generales Publicación desde 17/09/2019 hasta 20/09/201933. 17 September 2019: Calificación44. 20 September 2019: Gobierno Contestación desde 20/09/2019 hasta 24/09/201955. 24 September 2019: Concluido - (Caducado) desde 24/09/2019 hasta 23/10/2019

Was there a plenary vote?

We have no plenary vote linked to this law in the Congreso’s data.

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 was presented again:

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.

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