The Government of Spain reforms the structure and functioning of H.M. The King's Household

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The Council of Ministers has approved the Royal Decree reforming the structure and functioning of H.M. The King's Household, which contains measures relating to transparency and accountability, efficiency in public service and exemplarity.

The Minister for the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños, has expressed his satisfaction with this new regulation, with which "the Spanish monarchy takes a step forward and brings itself into line with the highest standards of other European royal houses". He pointed out that yesterday King Felipe VI made public what his current wealth is.

The Royal Decree gives legal status to practices that were already being carried out, introduces new ones, guarantees the coordination of its activity with the General State Administration (AGE) and advances "in the exemplarity, integrity, honesty and transparency that citizens today demand of all institutions, including the Head of State", stressed Bolaños.

Transparency, public service and exemplarity

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaMeasures to improve transparency and accountability include the regulation of contracting activity to ensure that it complies with the principles of public procurement, such as that of publicity. Contracts must be published on the website of the Royal Household, as must the budget and the quarterly statements of execution, remunerations, institutional gifts and the annual activities report. In addition, the accounts of the Casa will be audited by the Court of Auditors, for which a collaboration agreement will be formalised.

Regarding efficiency in public service, Bolaños pointed out that "we are committed to the civil service in H.M. The King's Household". Thus, the Office of the Comptroller will be exercised by a civil servant from the Senior Corps of State Comptrollers and Auditors and the Diplomatic Adviser will be a civil servant belonging to the diplomatic career. The State Attorney's Office will constitute the legal advice service thanks to a collaboration agreement with the National Government, and the possibility of future agreements with other government bodies for different areas of activity is enabled.

Staff shall perform their duties in accordance with the code of conduct in force, based on the principles of objectivity, integrity, neutrality, impartiality, confidentiality, exemplary behaviour, austerity, honesty, environmental protection and equality between the sexes. In addition, senior officials and senior management staff must publish their annual declaration of assets.

Last, the minister explained that all gifts received by H.M. The King's Household will be inventoried, registered and kept in custody pending a decision as to whether they remain in the Household, are passed on to National Heritage or are donated to non-profit organisations, depending on their nature.

Evaluation of the Annual Policy Plan 2021

The Government has approved the Annual Regulatory Plan (NAP) 2021 Assessment Report, which analyses the regulatory activity deployed by the Government from 1 January 2021 to the present day.

Bolaños stressed that both the approval and the evaluation of the NAP are a very important exercise in transparency, planning and accountability. For this reason, last year for the first time the Executive presented an evaluation of policy planning, which no government had ever done before, approved the NAP 2022 in the first Council of Ministers of the year and today presented the evaluation report of the previous year.

The 2021 report indicates that 94% of the planned initiatives have already been approved or are currently in the process. Among them, Bolaños highlighted the regulations related to the development and execution of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and the General State Budget Law 2022, presented by the Government in due time and form before the last quarter of the year and approved by Congress for its entry into force on 1 January.

Furthermore, a total of 261 unplanned regulations were approved to deal with "a complex and difficult year, where we had to continue fighting against the pandemic and its economic and social consequences", said the minister.

Despite difficulties such as COVID-19, and the management of the consequences of the war in Ukraine, Bolaños assured that the government is continuing with its legislative agenda and the economic and social transformation of the country to consolidate economic growth, strengthen the welfare state and protect citizens, the working and middle classes, the self-employed and companies.

Recognition of the victims of the bombing of Gernika

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe Council of Ministers has approved an Institutional Declaration in recognition of the victimes of the bombing of Gernika, coinciding with the 85th anniversary of these events.

Félix Bolaños stressed that for the first time the declaration expressly condemns the "totally cruel" actions of war against the civilian population. In this respect, he recalled that the Nazi troops and the Italian fascist air force destroyed the town of Gernika, which "has become a universal symbol against barbarity and against the horror of war and the bombing of defenceless people".

The minister stressed that the text reflects the Executive's commitment to the survival of the memory of all victims and reaffirms its commitment to the defence of the principles of truth, justice, reparation and the guarantee of non-repetition, as well as to the construction of a common memory that contributes to maintaining peace.

In this context, Bolaños recalled the speech made by the President of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski, during his intervention by videoconference before the Lower House of Parliament on 5 April. The minister reiterated that "the Spanish government's commitment to the Ukrainian people is absolute" and gave as an example last week's visit by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez to Kiev.

As a show of solidarity and support, the government will double the amount of material sent to Ukraine and, through the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID), will allocate 31 million euros to the people suffering the consequences of the war in that country and to the refugees who have crossed its borders.

Félix Bolaños specified that Spain has so far taken in 137,000 Ukrainians, 75,000 of whom have applied for temporary protection, which the government is processing.

The minister also underlined the response of the European Union as a whole following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has implemented economic restrictions against Russia.

Proceedings against Russian oligarchs registered in Spain

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe Minister for Territorial Policy and Government Spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, explained that the Council of Ministers has set up an exceptional system to prevent Russian oligarchs from circumventing the rules and sanctions imposed in the European context.

By means of a Royal Decree-Law, registry regulations have been adjusted to ensure that no Russian oligarch finances President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine with their property in Spain, even if the ownership of these assets is held by front men or intermediaries.

On another note, Isabel Rodríguez confirmed that the Chief Executive will visit Moldova and Poland on Thursday and Friday, respectively, to express the solidarity of the Spanish people with these countries, which have taken on a large part of the reception of Ukrainian refugees. Pedro Sánchez will hold bilateral meetings with their prime ministers and visit two refugee centres.

87.5 million for the qualification and re-skilling of workers

The Government has approved the distribution of 87.5 million euros to the Regional Gvernments for the qualification and re-qualification of the active population.

Isabel Rodríguez detailed that these funds, from Component 20 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, will be used to "train, qualify and requalify" around 160,000 employed and unemployed workers, focusing on "new employment niches".

The training offer will be oriented towards professional qualifications in strategic sectors, care for people and areas at risk of depopulation. This training, linked to the National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications, may be accredited as part of a module of a Vocational Training qualification or a certificate of professionalism.

Fostering the talent of research staff

The Executive has authorised the call for the early processing of "Beatriz Galindo" aid, part of the State Sub-programme to Develop, Attract and Retain Talent, which forms part of the State R&D&I Plan. The aim is to promote and enhance the talent of research, technology and innovation personnel and to encourage the incorporation of young researchers and R&D&I personnel.

The spokeswoman pointed out that the measure aims to ensure that the talent of young researchers stays in Spanish universities.

The call for proposals foresees the awarding of 100 grants, 40 senior and 60 junior, for an amount of 18.8 million euros. They have a maximum duration of four years and are organised by means of a distinguished researcher contract between the university and the selected researcher.

Aid to strategic companies

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe Executive has authorised two new operations of the Solvency Support Fund for strategic companies for 85 million euros to the hotel groups Abba and Hesperia (30 and 55 million euros, respectively).

Isabel Rodríguez argued that both are strategic for the economy due to their pertaining to the tourism sector and their strong roots in the territories where they are established, with a significant volume of employment.

These companies have more than 3,400 permanent workers in their regular workforces and in high season these figures increase. Moreover, in some cases, they are based in rural or industrial environments.

The spokeswoman has maintained that public aid from the Solvency Support Fund for Strategic Companies, approved in July 2020, has prevented the tourism and catering sectors from falling.

Logistical coverage of the NATO Summit

The Council of Ministers has authorised the contracting of the temporary assignment of space and provision of services and supplies for the Organisation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit, which will be held in Madrid from 28 to 30 May. The estimated value of the contract is 29,752,066.11 euros.

Isabel Rodríguez highlighted the reverberation that this event will have for Spain in the international context, as well as the investment that it will mean for the autonomous region and the city of Madrid. The summit will be attended by numerous heads of state and government and more than 2,000 reporters.

Non official translation