Agenda 13-19 April
This week we talk about...
MIGRANT REGULARIZATION - DIGITAL SERVICES LAW - ONLINE MINOR PROTECTION LAW - HOUSING - TIME REGISTRATION - BLACKOUT - INFRASTRUCTURES - SELF-EMPLOYED - ARCADI ESPAÑA - SENATE - APPEARANCES - SESSIONS
REGULARIZATION MIGRANTS
The time has come. The Government is expected to approve, as Demócrata advanced, the procedure for the extraordinary regularization agreed with Podemos. The Council of Ministers will give the green light to the Royal Decree reforming the Immigration Regulation that will allow to regularize at least 500,000 migrants. Tuesday, 09:00 hours. Moncloa
To the clash. The measure does not have to pass through Congress but the opposition takes a stand to criticize it. Junts defends in the Plenary its law to ban the burka and transfer migration powers to Catalonia and the PP seeks in the control of Minister Elma Saiz, to ask her if the security and well-being of Spaniards is a priority. Tuesday and Wednesday. Congress.
DIGITAL SERVICES LAW
Quickie reform. The PSOE proposes an express reform to empower the CNMC in the supervision of digital markets, a task it should have assumed in February 2024. The measure is already being processed in a broader project, but the Socialist Group has decided to promote a specific law to approve it as soon as possible. Tuesday, 3:00 PM. Congress.
LAW PROTECTION MINORS ONLINE
Getting to work. After months on stand by, the working group for the Bill for the Protection of minors in digital environments is constituted. It is one of the Government's priorities, not in vain, it is the initiative through which Pedro Sánchez intends to prohibit the use of social networks for minors under 16 years of age. Its future is uncertain, as it does not have the endorsement of Junts and there are several points to polish that keep the sector agitated: who assumes parental control and what the labeling format for digital devices will be. Tuesday, at the end of the Justice Committee. Congress.
PRISON OFFICIALS
It was about time. The working group for the PSOE's bill to recognize the character of agents of authority for Penitentiary Institutions officials is constituted, whose report has been pending since September 2024.
HOUSING
Final stretch. Housing finalizes the new State Housing Plan, after receiving the opinion of the Council of State and accepting the vast majority of its observations. The advisory body questioned the obligatory co-financing, which will not be such, and also the guarantees of permanent protection via registry annotation. There the Ministry believes that the formula is sufficient. It will be approved shortly.
It will be in the added time. The Government rushes the deadlines to agree with Junts on the validation of the decree-law with the extension of rents and the 2% cap on rent increases. The longer it waits, the more contracts will benefit. It does not yet have a date for its vote.
Press Silence. Discretion regarding any contact is maximum, but in the coalition they cling to the conversations started weeks ago to overcome the vote. An agreement that includes other areas is not discardable, such as squatting (Junts' priority) or taxation (a red line, until now, for the left-wing partners).
And the moratorium? The Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, receives the Platform of People Affected by Mortgages for the recovery of the anti-eviction moratorium, repealed on two occasions by Congress and not subsequently recovered by the Government due to the veto of PP, Junts and Vox. Monday, 12:00 hours. Ministry of Social Rights.
TIME RECORD
Will there be peace? Labor wants to take in the coming weeks the regulation of time registration to the CDGAE, one of the previous steps to approve it in the Council of Ministers. It already warned in March that it would not accept substantial changes to its proposal, despite the clash with Economy, which asks to delay the measure. The proposal already contemplates six months of margin once the technical requirements are defined.
THE POLITICAL (AND ECONOMIC) BATTLE OF THE BLACKOUT
They don't trust. PP and Vox lash out against vice-president Sara Aagesen after the conversations between Red Eléctrica and generators became known, which point to photovoltaic and the lack of backup energies as a cause of instability in the system, and possible origin of the ‘blackout’. Wednesday, 9:00 hours. Congress.
Who pays for this? The audios are being published as a result of the judicial and parliamentary investigation into the blackout and are ammunition in the battle being waged to determine responsibilities for the event and, therefore, assume its costs. Also to amend the Government's energy policy and reclaim nuclear energy, given the planned closure of power plants.
INFRASTRUCTURES
Fetish Minister. Minister Óscar Puente receives a special PP in the control of Congress with three questions, summoning him to resign due to the revelations about the breaking of the track piece before the Adamuz accident and the removal of material not authorized by the judge. Canarian Coalition also asks him about the Canarian co-management of airports. Wednesday, 9:00 hours. Congress.
SELF-EMPLOYED
There is controversy. The Secretary of State for Social Security and Pensions, Borja Suárez, appears for the transfer of management to the Basque Country and the planned strikes in Social Security. However, the focus of interest will be the increase of more than 40% in contributions for self-employed company owners. Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. Senate.
THE DEBUT OF ARCADI
Welcome Committee. The new Minister of Finance, Arcadi España, debuts in the control of Congress with two questions from his partners and an interpellation from the PP, which will again bring a new motion next week with its tax cuts to defeat the Government. Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. Congress.
Friendly fire. He/She will receive one of Sumar's first questions in a control to measure his/her degree of commitment to the financing reform. Bildu asks him/her about his/her plans to recover a tax on energy companies, now that Spain defends one at community level to cover the shock plans due to the incipient price crisis.
THE SENATE INVESTIGATES
Hat-trick. The Upper House, without a Plenary session this week, schedules three appearance sessions in its committee to investigate alleged irregularities in the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI). It calls to testify the current president of SEPI, María Belén Gualda, its vice-president, Bartolomé Lora, and the former vice-president Vicente Cecilio. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. 11:00 hours. Senate.
APPEARANCES
The Toledo Pact Commission of Congress receives two new experts to analyze the gender gap in the public pension system. Monday, 16:00 hours.
The FEMP and Save The Children in the International Development Cooperation Commission of the Senate. Tuesday, 12:00 hours.
The Secretary General of Air and Maritime Transport informs in Congress about mobility aid in extra-peninsular territories. Tuesday, 10:30 hours.
SESSIONS
Sessions at the request of the Association of Ultra-Fast Charging Operators (AORU). Monday, 9:30 hours. Congress.
‘Disinformation, regulation and competitiveness: the challenge of the plastics industry’, by the Spanish Association of Plastics Industrialists (ANAIP). Monday, 10:00 hours. Senate.
‘Proposals for a Social Climate Plan to help households in energy poverty, vulnerable transport users, and micro-enterprises’, by Salvia Team Association. Monday, 3:30 p.m. Congress