Government updates compensation payouts to victims of road accidents

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The Council of Ministers approved, for submission to Parliament, Draft Laws to reform the system to assess damages caused to persons involved in road accidents. The Vice-President of the Government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, announced that the new legislation seeks "to better personalise damages according to an assessment of personal, family and economic circumstances".

The Minister for Justice, Rafael Catalá, explained that the text is the result of an agreement between road accident victims associations, experts from the academic world and representatives of insurance companies.

The future legislation increases protection for road accident victims by guaranteeing them sufficient compensation, improves the calculation of compensation by identifying consequential damages and loss of future earnings (loss of legitimate earnings by the victim) and establishes a system that allows for the revision of sums obtained and guarantees ongoing treatment for victims, pointed out the minister.

Rafael Catalá asserted that this will result in "an improvement in compensation in the event of personal injury or death". In the case of death, new family structures will be taken into account. In the case of personal injury, redress for serious injuries will be stepped up.

The new legislation incorporates a system of tables that objectify and simplify the application of compensation. This will help keep this type of claim out of the courts. "More out-of-court settlements will be reached because both the compensation board and victims associations have worked on this issue and a very extensive agreement has been reached between all involved", added the minister.

Rafael Catalá argued that, from the point of view of the insurance companies, "objectifying compensation and establishing clear and publicised rules will enable certain price stability and avoid increased insurance policy premiums".

Pool MoncloaThe Minister for Justice also underlined that the new system will allow victims that carry out housework to receive compensation. Compensation payouts will be updated according to the pension increase index provided for under the General State Budget Act.

Rafael Catalá highlighted the positive impact that the new legislation will have for the National Health System because "insurance companies will compensate national public health systems for the provision, treatment and replacement of artificial limbs" which may be required by those injured in road accidents.

On another note, the Minister for Justice reported that the government has analysed the Draft Constitutional Law on the immunity of foreign States and international organisations with an office or delegation in Spain and on the system of privileges and immunity applicable to international conferences and meetings held in our country.

The new legislation will unify the various regulatory elements that govern this matter in a single text. According to the minister, the measure "will facilitate the choice of Spain to host international conferences".

Greater protection of biodiversity

The government also submitted to Parliament the amendment to the Law on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Affairs, Isabel García Tejerina, highlighted that Spain is the richest country in biodiversity in the European Union with more than 9,000 species of plants and more than 60,000 species of fauna - many of them endemic - and a wide variety of habitats. "Biodiversity is a heritage that belongs to the Spanish people and requires protection, and that is the aim of this amendment to the law: to improve the system of protection, conservation and restoration of the Spanish biodiversity".

Among the new features of the draft law is the incorporation in the Land Registry and in the Register of information on the environmental protection that affects land included in the various protected areas, such as National and Natural Parks, the Natura 2000 Network, countryside of public use and wetlands, among others. "What we are seeking to do is to increase transparency, provide greater legal certainty to everything related to the property regimes covering protected areas and thus guarantee better protection for these areas, since it is easier to better protect what you are aware of", claimed the minister. The aim of this measure is purely informative, "in other words, protected status is neither created nor abolished", he pointed out.

Threatened species

Another important aspect of the new legislation relates to improving protection of threatened species. The first importation of non-indigenous species that could be potentially harmful will require an administrative authorisation. In turn, the re-introduction of indigenous species that have died out will be regulated in such a way as to not endanger the current biodiversity.

Pool MoncloaFurthermore, the text incorporates various international regulations into the Spanish legal system. Isabel García Tejerina referred, in particular, to the Nagoya Protocol, which regulates access to genetic resources and to equitable participation in profits deriving from their application.

The draft law also includes a series of measures aimed at boosting support from public authorities for economic activities that are in line with the conservation of protected natural spaces while contributing to the well-being of local populations.

As regards climate change, the text establishes the obligation of public authorities to "include the design of adaptation and mitigation measures in order to minimise the risks and impact on Spanish biodiversity" of this phenomenon, pointed out Isabel García Tejerina.

Protection of Food Quality

Also in relation to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Affairs, the government approved the Draft Law on the Protection of Food Quality, "legislation that will contribute to market unity throughout the country in relation to controlling food quality and fraud", stated the Vice-President of the Government.

Isabel García Tejerina framed this new legislation within the policy developed by this ministerial department from the start of this legislature to promote, guarantee and protect the quality of all food products available to consumers. "Among other things, because that is part of the basis for the success of our products in the international markets", she pointed out.

According to the minister, the draft law responds to the need to have an up-to-date core regulation, adapted to European legislation and consistent throughout the country to effectively protect food quality. She also argued that it helps foster the competitiveness of companies by simplifying quality control systems and avoiding operators being subject to administrative burdens deriving from excessive regional regulations.

The text organises inspection and control systems applied to foodstuffs in various stages of the supply chain while streamlining and updating the penalty regime. Companies will receive the same treatment when irregularities are detected in their actions regardless of the region in which they carry on their activity. Moreover, the European Union mandate on efficiency, proportionality and dissuasive measures are incorporated into the amount of the sanction, such that fraud can never be profitable.

In closing Isabel García Tejerina remarked that collaboration frameworks and systems of networks for the exchange of information between the ministerial department and regional governments on matters of food quality control will be established.

Plan to Support Retail Trade

Pool MoncloaFor the third year in a row, the Council of Ministers approved the Comprehensive Plan to Support the Competitiveness of the Retail Trade. The third edition of this plan for 2015 includes 34 measures, two more than in the previous edition, designed in collaboration with the sector, the regional governments and 10 ministerial departments.

The main aim of the plan is to continue driving the competitiveness of trade, in particular of small businesses, highlighted the Vice-President of the Government. Actions will be developed through a collaboration agreement entered into with the Chamber of Commerce of Spain and will be allocated a budget of five million euros, 20% higher than last year. Since 2013, 38,691 businesses have benefitted from the various actions contained in the plan.

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría disclosed that the retail trade sector has constituted one of the most important sectors in its use of ICO credit lines last year, with a significant increase in request for and concessions of loans.

She also highlighted that one of the cornerstones of the plan is the commercial promotion of shopping tourism. In this regard, the aid programme will continue for the implementation of specific projects designed to transform commercial equipment, the modernisation of shopping centres in areas of major tourism and boosting urban shopping centres.

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría also mentioned card payments. Since the government reduced exchange rates on this form of payment transaction on 1 September 2014, there has been a recorded 55% fall in commissions on credit card transactions and 83% on debt card transactions.

The Vice-President of the Government highlighted that trade represents 12.3% of the GDP of the Spanish economy, and retail trade in particular, 5.5%. Furthermore, almost two million people are employed in the retail trade, representing almost 11% of those in work.

Attracting skilled migrants

The government received a report on the application of the Law to Support Entrepreneurs and their Internationalisation. This document shows that skilled migrants "have improved our ability to attract investors, entrepreneurs, highly qualified professionals, researchers and companies" that operate in Spain "through a swift and specific system to grant visas and residency permits", explained the Vice-President of the Government.

Pool MoncloaThe report contains future recommendations to be implemented, such as speeding up bureaucratic procedures for investors, with the possibility of directly applying for residency permits in those cases in which the investor is located in Spain on a regulated basis without having to travel abroad, the inclusion of the figure of an investor representative, and heightened security for property investors, accepting, for example, deposit agreements as a justification for the investment with the corresponding issue of a temporary six-month investment visa with the aim of making the investment effective.

Other agreements

The Council of Ministers approved the appointment of José Julián Gregorio López as Government Representative for the Autonomous Region of Castile-La Mancha; of María Concepción Dancausa Treviño as Government Representative for the Region of Madrid, and of Juan Carlos Suárez-Quiñones y Fernández as Government Representative for the Autonomous Region of Castile Leon.

Current affairs

In relation to the fatal accident suffered by two Spanish speleologists in Morocco, the Vice-President of the Government passed on to their families, on behalf of the government, "our support and solidarity at this tough and painful time".

Furthermore, she recalled that the government concerns itself with what may happen to Spaniards overseas and "will continue to do so", through preventive measures to warn of possible risks and through trying to always provide - as in this case - the "maximum support", "the best assistance" and "the greatest cover", taking into consideration that each country has its own protocols for action. She also highlighted the good intent on the part of Morocco, including "ongoing contact" with the Moroccan authorities as from the time the accident became known, and the existence of extensive relations between the two countries, which the government actively works to maintain.

Pool MoncloaAs regards the document on the situation in Venezuela signed by José María Aznar and Felipe González, among other former Ibero-American heads of government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría said that this is a "very sensible but very calm call" from those who have been governors and are highly aware of the situation there.

The Minister for Justice stressed that under Spanish legislation "the right to abort as such is not regulated", and highlighted that the government's aim in regulating this matter is to achieve "the maximum consensus possible", including in parliamentary debate.

When asked about certain information pointing to the privatisation of civil registry offices, Rafael Catalá stressed that there is not plan to privatise them and that all the public servants employed in these duties will remain in employment. The reform under study, regarding which talks are being held with the regional governments and the trade unions, seeks to improve a "free public service that is increasingly telematic and closer to the people", he concluded.