Speech by the director general of local co-operation, on behalf of the secretary of state for territorial cooperation of the Kingdom of Spain, at the plenary session of the Congreson 8 november 2005

First and foremost I would like to express my great satisfaction at taking part in this plenary session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, an institution that represents the governments closest to the citizens on our continent. I have kindly been invited here today to outline the Spanish government’s policy on decentralisation. And my satisfaction is twofold insofar as I am representing a thoroughly decentralised country that believes deeply in local and regional self government and the territorial distribution of power as mechanisms for strengthening democracy and recognising territorial pluralism.

Furthermore, the outlook and concerns of Spain’s Government are very similar to those of this Congress. Witness the far-reaching measures adopted in only one and a half years of government, to be described below; these measures take in many of the comments and recommendations made in the Congress’s monitoring report on the state of local and regional democracy in Spain and Recommendation 121 (2002) on local and regional democracy in Spain, approved by this Congress.

I would also like to stress the profound respect felt by the Spanish Ministry for Public Administration (Ministerio de Administraciones Públicas) for the Council of Europe, in our case especially in the context of the activities bound up with local and regional democracy, in which we take a very active and constructive part.

As you are all aware Spain is a historic example of the transformation from a rigidly unified and centralist State to a thoroughly decentralised State in political terms. Moreover this transformation came about in a very short period of time and with broad grassroots support. Due to its particular historical idiosyncrasies, Spain’s periods of democracy have always gone hand in hand with thoroughgoing processes of decentralisation and self government, not only at local level but also at the level of the nationalities and regions that make up Spain.

This triumph has its political dimension but also its managerial side. The management of most public services has been phased into the levels of territorial power that are closest to the citizens; this procedure has not only greatly improved their quality but has also brought them more into line with the needs of citizens and territorial areas. The upshot, in a nutshell, is more diversity and flexibility, more capacity for experimentation and innovation.

But the decentralisation process has also contributed directly towards Spain’s extraordinary economic progress, allowing a better harnessing and use of the resources of each territorial area, a greater synergy between public and private stakeholders and the design and implementation of regional and local development polices based on the best use of each territory’s resources.

Spain’s local and regional governments have proven the country’s enormous modernisation capacity and also its great skill at integrating social initiatives and encouraging the participation of citizens and institutions in collective affairs.

But there is another crucial spinoff from Spain’s decentralisation process, which I want to stress particularly here. By recognising its internal diversity, and by offering this diversity wide-ranging outlets of expression and institutionalisation, Spain has acknowledged itself as it really is; it has come to terms with its own nature, thereby enriching itself socially, politically and culturally. Citizens and the territories they live in feel more at ease and involved in this plural Spain, which has made diversity its hallmark. Spain is not a one-track county in a cultural and social sense; it is replete with byways, a rich and many-faceted mixture of different traits that find their best expression in a broad and open context.

Now that Spain’s decentralisation process has been completely consolidated it will be enriched even further in this stage. Our Government has a wide range of measures that seek to tap into all the possibilities offered by the Constitution for the full development of territorial bodies; as already pointed out these measures will chime in with the Recommendation approved by this Congress, which has so generously recognised the merits of Spain’s track record in this crucial field. I would now like to pinpoint some examples to show the breadth of the Government’s intentions in this area.

As regards the regional level, I am going to stress four essential features: the planned reform of the Constitution, the reform of the Statutes of the Self-Governing Communities (Comunidades Autónomas), the setting up of the Conference of Presidents and the participation of the Self-Governing Communities in European Community affairs.

Firstly, then, as regards the constitutional reform, it should be borne in mind here that the Constitution was originally drawn up to facilitate the transition from a highly centralised State to a politically decentralised one; it now needs to be brought into line with the new situation in which the decentralised State had been fully implemented. This means, in the opinion of Spain’s Government, that there is now a need for a constitutional reform to incorporate the denomination of the Self-Governing Communities that were voluntarily set up in the framework of the Constitution, so that the territorial map ushered in by the 1978 Constitution is in turn enshrined in its wording as the expression of an essential change in the territorial structure of the State.

But another essential objective of the constitutional reform is to transform the Senate at last into a true territorial chamber in keeping with this new situation; at the moment most Senators in Spain are still elected on a provincial rather than regional basis.

Secondly, the reform of the Statutes of Autonomy, already set in motion in several Self-Governing Communities, aims to harness all the Constitution’s potential in terms of decentralised responsibilities. The aim is to strike the right balance between satisfying territorial aspirations as far as possible while also guaranteeing constitutional loyalty.

Thirdly, Spain’s Government has promoted the setting up the Conference of Presidents, bringing together the President of the Government of the Nation and the Presidents of the Self-Governing Communities. This forum is necessary for tackling major subjects of common interest, either because of their intrinsic importance or because they cannot be dealt with single-handedly by the undoubtedly important system of Sectoral Conferences existing in Spain. This was a deeply felt need that has already been answered, for two Conferences of Presidents have been held since the formation of the new Government after the general elections of 13 March 2004.

Fourthly, Spain’s Government has reformed the process whereby Self-Governing Communities participate in European Community affairs, in keeping with a constitutional and statutory distribution of the responsibilities impinging on the policies of the Union. From now on, whenever the Council of Ministers is dealing with any matter related to the responsibilities of the Self-Governing Communities, a regional minister (Consejero) of a Self-Governing Community is entitled to form part of the Spanish delegation.

As you can see, these are far-reaching reforms that are fully in keeping with the proposals made by this Congress.

No less important are the changes initiated at local level. Worthy of particular mention are the following: the draft Local Administration and Government Law (Ley del Gobierno y la Administración Local), following the drawing up of a White Paper on the subject; the proposal of introducing into the Statutes of the Self-Governing Communities provisions to guarantee local self government; the setting up of the Sectoral Conference on Local Affairs (Conferencia Sectorial de Asuntos Locales) and finally the Statute of Local Representatives.

In July 2004 the Ministry for Public Administration promoted the drawing up of a White Paper for the reform of local government, with broad-based participation of all stakeholders and the active collaboration of the Council of Europe. The final version of the White Paper was written in June 2005, taking into account the comments made by all who wished to participate in the public exhibition phase.

This document has served as a key element in drawing up the draft of the new Local Administration and Government Law. Considerable headway has by now been made in this legislative procedure and the government intends to present the Bill in the Congreso de los Diputados (lower house) by the end of January 2006. This law aims to tap into all the possibilities offered by the Constitution for the full development of local self government as true political autonomy, taking its inspiration essentially from the European Charter of Local Self Government, as its explanatory memorandum will make clear.

Secondly, the Government is promoting the inclusion of a series of local self-government provisions in the pending reforms of the Statutes of Autonomy. These provisions will notably strengthen the core position of local governments. They involve the following: recognition of the right to local self government as laid down in the European Charter of Local Self Government; the establishment of a series of guaranteed responsibilities; entitlement of local authorities to a share in the taxes of the Self-Governing Communities and, finally, the creation of a Council of Local Power at regional level with the remit of handing down an obligatory report on all legislative initiatives affecting local responsibilities.

Thirdly, the Ministry for Public Administration has promoted the setting up of a Sectoral Conference for Local Affairs as the top-ranking body for tripartite liaison between the State, the Self-Governing Communities and Local Authorities. It met for the first time on 17 January 2005. The setting up of this forum was essential for developing local government with the consensus of the three levels of territorial power existing in Spain.

Lastly, this Government advocates and promotes the strengthening of the Statute of Elected Representatives. This will be done mainly through the future Local Administration and Government Law but it has already been projected in a non-government bill presented this year and signed by all parliamentary groups; this bill recognises the unemployment pay entitlement of all full time local elected representatives.

These are only some of the measures we are taking in this area. As you can see from this sample, the Spanish Government’s local and regional democracy programme is wide ranging, hugely important in political and legal terms and consistent with the criteria that this Congress upholds and advocates.

I believe, therefore, that Spain can safely claim to be one of the vanguard countries in terms of local and regional decentralisation. These processes, moreover have greatly contributed towards its political, economic and social development. Citizens and territories have learned to trust in the system and this ensures that increasingly solid and fruitful results are being gleaned from the country’s unity in diversity.

I remain at your disposal for answering any question you may like to make on these matters.

Many thanks.