Mandatory register and rules for groups that lobby the Spanish government

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. A public, free and mandatory Register of interest groups is created, managed by the Council of Transparency and Good Governance. Without registering, groups may not hold meetings or contacts with public officials to exert influence.
2. The register will include the identity of groups and their representatives, their funding, their meetings with public officials, and a list of people who served as senior officials or public employees in the last five years.
3. Registered groups must follow codes of conduct: provide truthful information, offer no gifts or favors, keep confidential information private, and not represent conflicting interests without consent.
4. Every rule-making process must include a standardized regulatory footprint report showing contributions from interest groups, the contacts held, and the documents provided.
5. A sanctioning system is established with very serious, serious and minor offenses. Penalties range from a warning to fines of €5,000 to €40,000 and a ban on re-registering for two to five years. The Council of Transparency and Good Governance handles and decides these cases.
6. Senior officials may not work as lobbyists for registered entities during the two years after leaving office, on matters related to their former department. They must also publish their meetings and contacts with interest groups on the Transparency Portal within one month.

Who it affects

• Interest groups (companies, associations, platforms and lobbying firms that influence public decisions): They must register, provide financial and activity information, follow codes of conduct, and face sanctions.
• Senior officials, management staff and other employees of the State Administration: They must verify that groups are registered, publish their meetings, and follow post-employment rules.
• Members of trusted or special-advice cabinet offices: They are subject to the same transparency obligations toward interest groups.
• Council of Transparency and Good Governance (Consejo de Transparencia y Buen Gobierno): It manages the register, monitors compliance, and imposes sanctions.
• The public: Anyone can check online, free of charge, who is lobbying, with what funding, and in which meetings.

Words worth knowing

Grupo de interés (interest group)

A person, company or collective that tries to influence public decisions, on its own behalf or for others.

Actividad de influencia (influence activity)

Any communication with a public official aimed at changing a decision, policy or rule.

Informe de huella normativa (regulatory footprint report)

A document showing what contributions interest groups made to a rule and how they affected the final text.

Alto cargo (senior official)

A person holding a public position of direction or responsibility in the Administration.

Silencio administrativo estimatorio (approval by administrative silence)

If the administration does not answer within the set period, the request is deemed approved.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries