Prior public consultation on the "Preliminary Draft Law on Transparency and Integrity in the Activities of Interest Groups"
Deadline: until 05/28/2021
Procedure: Closed Participation from April 28 to May 28, 2021
In accordance with the provisions of article 133 of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, in relation to article 26.2 of Law 50/1997, of 27 November, of the Government, with the aim of improving the participation of citizens in the procedure of elaboration of rules, a public consultation on the Preliminary Draft Law of Transparency and Integrity in the Activities of Interest Groups is elaborated.
In accordance with the provisions of the Agreement of the Council of Ministers, of 30 September 2016, issuing instructions to enable public participation in the process of normative elaboration through the web portals of the ministerial departments, published by Order PRE/1590/2016, of 3 October, citizens, organizations and associations that consider it can send their opinions on the aspects raised in the consultation, during the period of one month, which for the present case will be open until 28 May 2021, through the following e-mail: secretaria.oci@correo.gob.es.
In the written pleadings submitted, it will be necessary to state the following:
- Name and surname and/or social name of the natural or legal person who subscribes to the claims, as well as the full name of the participating organization or association, where applicable.
- Contact details, and among them, uniquely the email address.
- Clear indication in the “subject” field of the email that the statement of allegation refers to the public consultation of this Preliminary Draft.
Finally, it is noted that only those writings of allegations in which the sender is identified will be taken into consideration.
In general, the contributions received will be considered to be open to public dissemination. The parts of the information submitted that, in the opinion of the persons concerned, should be treated confidentially and, consequently, should not be freely disseminated, should be specifically indicated in the text of the contribution itself, not considering for this purpose the generic messages of confidentiality of the information.
There are no regulations on the subject in the General Administration of the State, although other Public Administrations have already addressed this regulation within the scope of their competences.
In our legislation there is a regulatory gap, since interest groups do not even have a legal definition, a lack that has been highlighted both by international organizations and by civil society. In this sense, these groups must be granted institutional recognition, being necessary to define them and establish the framework in which the relations of interest groups with public officials must be developed in terms of transparency and public integrity. In this sense, it is considered that the institutional recognition of interest groups implies a clear strengthening in the quality and transparency of participation in decision-making. On the other hand, the establishment of a code of conduct and a mandatory and public register for representatives of these groups in their relations with the General Administration of the State is an improvement in the prevention of conflicts of interest of public officials.
In addition to the need to proceed with this regulation, as happens in the countries around us, the regulation of a register of interest groups has been included in the IV Open Government Plan (Axis of Integrity).
- Definition of the groups and collectives affected by this rule.
- Establishment of rules of advertising and registration.
- Definition of the duties and obligations of the members of these groups.
- Limitations of revolving doors between senior officials and public employees, on the one hand, and interest groups, on the other.
- Establishment of a code of conduct.
- Attribution of the management of this Registry to the Office of Conflicts of Interest, given the competences of this General Directorate in relation to the control of conflicts of interest of senior officials and public employees.
They are not contemplated, since a rule with the rank of law is necessary to regulate this matter.
1. In general.
Do you consider that it is necessary to have a regulation that delimits the relations of interest groups with public officials for the purposes of transparency and control of public decisions?
2. Limitations of lobbyists.
If so, what rules should apply to these groups?
- Publicity and transparency of meetings with public officials?
- Prohibition of the delivery of gifts or personal attention to public offices?
- Limitation in relation to the possibility of public office holders being able to carry out professional activities in interest groups?
- What principles should be included in the code of conduct?
3. Delimitation of activities affected by the law.
In addition to lobbyists acting professionally as lobbyists, do you consider that the limitations of this law should apply to other entities that may be, but occasionally, representative of interests?
In that case, to which ones?
4. Interest Group Records.
Do you consider that the registration of interest groups must be mandatory?
