Live, Congress examines candidates for the new CNMC leadership

With the information available from the sources consulted, it is not possible to determine the specific and updated status of the parliamentary process for the renewal of the CNMC (whether the hearings have already taken place, which commission has intervened, and if a report has been issued). There are no recent hearings specifically related to appointments or renewals of the CNMC appearing in the reviewed diaries and agendas. However, it is possible to explain how parliamentary control of these appointments generally works and what procedures usually follow after the appearance before the competent commission. The model can also be illustrated with a recent law on another independent administrative authority, which sets mandate and renewal rules similar to the usual ones.

Status of the hearings on the CNMC

In the official transcripts and parliamentary agendas already analyzed, no recent hearings have been found in the Congress or Senate commissions specifically related to the renewal of the CNMC's board members or presidency. In particular, it is indicated that:

• No commission session diaries have been found where the title includes “CNMC” or “National Commission of Markets and Competition”.
• Searches in session agendas from the last two years with those terms return results unrelated to the CNMC.

Therefore, with the available data, it is not possible to affirm whether the renewal process is already in the hearing phase, if these have already taken place, or if suitability reports have been issued.

To check the most updated details, one would need to go directly to the official search engines of the Congress and the Senate, filtering by economic commissions and terms related to appointments of independent authorities, through:

• Congress publications search engine
• Senate publications search engine

Role of the commission and steps after the hearing

Although the specific regime of the CNMC is determined by its own law, parliamentary functioning after a hearing in commission follows a logic common to other procedures:

• The proposed person (for presidency or board membership) appears before the competent commission, where they present their background and project, and answer questions from the groups.
• The commission deliberates and, if the procedure requires, prepares a report or opinion on the suitability of the candidacy.
• That report is sent to the corresponding body of the Chamber (Board or Presidency) and, if applicable, is formally communicated to the Government as an expression of parliamentary control.

The available sources recall the general role of commissions in parliamentary processing: they study the matter in detail, allow technical debate, and, when appropriate, prepare an opinion that is then sent to the Plenary or serves as a basis for the final decision. In the case of appointments, the opinion usually has a political and control character, and its legal force (binding or not) depends on what the specific regulations of each authority establish.

Example of renewal scheme in another independent authority

As a reference for how renewal is being regulated in independent administrative authorities, the recent Law creating the Independent Administrative Authority for the Technical Investigation of Railway, Maritime, and Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents, definitively approved in 2024 (publication in the Senate and publication in the Congress, with a prior phase described in this bulletin) can be cited.

This law provides, illustratively:

• A six-year mandate for council members, without possibility of re-election.
• A renewal by halves every three years, to prevent anyone from remaining in office for more than six years.
• A system whereby, once appointments are sent to the Cortes, if the Congress does not expressly pronounce within a certain period, the appointment is understood to be accepted.

Although this law does not refer to the CNMC, it shows the logic of a prolonged mandate, staggered renewal, and parliamentary control through a procedure of acceptance (express or tacit) of appointments of independent authorities.

Conclusion on the “next steps”

In summary, in the absence of concrete data on the current CNMC file, the general scheme after a hearing in commission is:

• The commission holds the hearing and, if the procedure requires, approves a report or opinion on suitability.
• That result is communicated to the governing body of the Chamber and, if applicable, to the Government.
• After the deadlines established by sectoral regulations (with express acceptance or by silence), the parliamentary process is considered completed and it is the Executive's responsibility to formalize the appointment according to applicable regulations.

No further information is available in the consulted sources to specify, as of today, the exact milestone at which the CNMC renewal stands.

The competencies of the president and the board members of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) are mainly established in Law 3/2013 and in the Organic Statute approved by Royal Decree 657/2013. The Council is the collegiate decision-making body, while the president concentrates legal representation, personnel leadership, and operational direction of the organization. All its members are independent senior officials, with exclusive dedication and subject to a strict incompatibility regime. Based on this, a division of functions is articulated between collegiate decisions (Council/Chambers) and executive direction (President).

Basic regulatory framework

Law 3/2013 creates the CNMC and identifies the governing bodies as:

• The Council, a collegiate decision-making body in resolutive, consultative, competition promotion, arbitration, and conflict resolution matters.
• The President, who is also the head of the Council.

According to the law itself, the Council has ten members (president, vice president, and eight board members), appointed by the Government by royal decree, with a six-year non-renewable mandate and partial renewal every two years. The Organic Statute of Royal Decree 657/2013 develops the composition, functioning in Plenary and Chambers, and specific attributions.

Competencies of the Council and board members

Law 3/2013 defines the Council as the collegiate decision-making body “in relation to the resolutive, consultative, competition promotion, arbitration, and conflict resolution functions” attributed to the CNMC. Among its non-delegable powers are included:

• Approving the CNMC's draft budgets, annual report, and annual or multi-year action plans.
• Approving the internal operating regulations.
• Appointing and dismissing management personnel and the Council's secretary.
• Challenging acts and provisions of other Administrations when they affect competition.
• Approving circulars and general communications to market agents.

Additionally, the law assigns the Council the resolution of sanctioning procedures in defense of competition and regulated sectors, decisions on merger files, control of compliance with its own resolutions, and approval of reports, studies, and works on economic sectors.

The Council acts in Plenary and in two Chambers (Competition and Regulatory Supervision). Board members participate in one or the other Chamber according to the assignment approved by the Plenary; the Chambers resolve ordinary matters within their scope and the Plenary handles, among others, non-delegable matters or those with divergent criteria between Chambers. Decisions are made by majority vote of those present and, in case of a tie, the vote of the meeting's chair decides, granting the president a casting vote in the collegiate body.

The Organic Statute specifies that all Council members are senior officials, perform their function with exclusive dedication, and are subject to the incompatibility regime provided in Law 3/2013 (cited article 22), which strengthens their independence from the Government and operators.

Competencies of the CNMC president

Law 3/2013 details a broad catalog of attributions of the president, among which stand out:

• Exercising the general competencies that administrative procedure legislation attributes to presidents of collegiate bodies (calling meetings, setting the agenda, moderating debates, ensuring execution of agreements).
• Calling and presiding over the Council in Plenary (and the Competition Chamber), with vote and casting vote in case of a tie.
• Holding the legal and institutional representation of the CNMC.
• Ensuring the proper development of the Commission's actions and maintaining good order and governance of the organization.
• Promoting the CNMC's actions and proposing annual or multi-year action plans.
• Exercising personnel leadership, directing, coordinating, evaluating, and supervising the Commission's units.
• Approving budget execution acts and exercising contracting competencies.
• Reporting on the CNMC and appearing before the General Courts.
• Presiding over the Competition Defense Council.

In case of vacancy, absence, or illness, the president is replaced by the vice president. Many Council functions can be delegated to the president, except those expressly declared non-delegable (budget, report, plans, internal regulations, etc.), which reinforces the executive role.

Appointment, dismissal, and incompatibilities

Law 3/2013 provides that the president, vice president, and board members are appointed by the Government by royal decree, at the proposal of the Ministry of Economy, after appearance before the Congress. The Chamber can veto the appointment by absolute majority within one month.

The Organic Statute refers to article 23 of Law 3/2013 for the dismissal regime and insists that all of them are senior officials with exclusive dedication and subject to a strict incompatibility regime. This regime includes, among others, limitations to engage in private activities related to supervised sectors, as well as duties of impartiality, confidentiality, and compliance with legal deadlines and procedures.

Other related regulations

Besides Law 3/2013 and the Organic Statute, the following provisions are of interest due to their relation to the CNMC or because they were modified or repealed upon its creation: Law 13/2022, Law 7/2010, Law 23/2007, Law 39/2003, Law 32/2003, Law 13/2011, Law 2/2011, Law 15/2007, Resolution 9/3/2016, Order PRE/2516/2015, Correction Order PRE/578/2015, Order PRE/578/2015, Resolution 13/3/2024, Resolution 9/6/2021, Resolution 29/4/2021, Resolution 13/4/2015, Resolution 15/6/2022, Resolution 15/7/2021, Circular 5/2021, Resolution 10/12/2020, Resolution 24/9/2020, Resolution 6/5/2015, Resolution 26/12/2013, Order ECC/1796/2013 and, in the comparative or sectoral field, Decision 4/10/1993 and Order 4/8/1977.

The Government has proposed the professor Juan José Ganuza Fernández as the new president of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), accompanied by three candidates for board members: Carmen Balsa, Joan Capdevila, and Marina Echebarría. This leadership combines eminently technical profiles with previous political trajectories in the environment of PSOE, ERC, and Sumar, as detailed by the newspaper Demócrata and various official notes. All must undergo examination by the Economy Commission of the Congress, which can veto the appointments by absolute majority, as recalled by the press release of the Congress of Deputies and various Demócrata pieces.

Juan José Ganuza Fernández: an academic profile for the presidency

According to information from Demócrata and other media, Ganuza holds a degree in Physical Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid and a PhD in Economics from Carlos III University. He is a professor of Economics and Business at Pompeu Fabra University, with nearly three decades of academic career focused on competition policy, market regulation, digital economy, and public procurement, as several chronicles about his appointment report, including Demócrata's on the Government's proposal to chair the CNMC (Government proposes Ganuza).

In postgraduate training, he has directed for ten years the Master's in Competition and Market Regulation at the Barcelona School of Economics, considered a reference program in regulatory matters in Spain, as highlighted by several Demócrata pieces (Commission examination, who they are and what the Commission will vote). Since 2014, he directs the Competition and Market Regulation Division at Funcas, from where he has promoted applied research projects impacting public policy design, and currently is president of the Economics Area of the State Research Agency (AEI), as detailed by both Demócrata and other cited outlets.

His relationship with the CNMC predates the appointment: he has regularly collaborated in seminars and specialized publications of the regulator, reinforcing his technical and specialist profile, as several Demócrata reports on the parliamentary examination of the candidates emphasize (political chronicle; Castilla y León edition).

Politically, the consulted sources do not record previous organic or executive positions in parties or governments. Demócrata itself emphasizes that the Executive opts for a “technical profile for the presidency”, distancing from more political names that had circulated, in an explanatory piece about the CNMC appointment system (Fren responds about CNMC board members).

The three proposed board members: Balsa, Capdevila, and Echebarría

Carmen Balsa

According to Demócrata, Carmen Balsa is an economist and belongs to the Senior Corps of State Commercial and Economists Technicians. Between 2018 and 2021, she was Chief of Staff to the then Minister of Economy and later First Vice President, Nadia Calviño, placing her clearly in the trusted environment of the socialist Government of the past legislature (profile in Demócrata). This trajectory reinforces a profile of a senior economic official with experience in political and technical coordination of the Ministry.

Joan Capdevila

Joan Capdevila is a veterinarian by training and was an ERC deputy in the Congress, according to several Demócrata news about the regulator's renewal (candidate examination; Demócrata Agenda). During his parliamentary stage, he was one of the reference voices on economic and competition matters in the republican group. His appointment as board member comes at ERC's proposal, as Demócrata notes in the chronicle of the June 23, 2026 Council of Ministers (Council of Ministers agreements), introducing a profile with direct political experience in the regulator's leadership.

Marina Echebarría

Marina Echebarría is a professor of Commercial Law and is recognized as the first transgender female professor in Spain in this discipline, as several Demócrata reports on her CNMC candidacy highlight (political profile; territorial profile). She was number two for Valladolid in the IU–Sumar candidacy in the Castilla y León regional elections, revealing an explicit political link with the Sumar space. Her trajectory combines legal specialization in markets and companies with activism in LGTBI rights, traits that Demócrata highlights to explain the symbolism of her appointment.

Parliamentary procedure and political context

The design of this new leadership is framed within a broader process of staggered renewal of the CNMC regulated by Law 3/2013. As the newspaper Demócrata explains in several pieces about the political clash between Government and opposition (PP criticisms; alert on independence), the PP reproaches the Executive for lack of negotiation and warns of the risk of politicization of the body, while the Government defends the technical suitability of the candidates.

The Economy, Commerce and Digital Transformation Commission of the Congress examines today, July 14, 2026, the suitability of Ganuza and the three board members, according to the official note from the lower chamber (Congress press release). If within one month the Commission does not veto any of them by absolute majority, the appointments would be validated and formalized by Royal Decree, according to the systematic explanation offered by Demócrata itself in its informative piece about CNMC board members (Fren responds).