The Official State Gazette (BOE) has disseminated this Thursday a Royal Decree, which will come into force tomorrow Friday, through which the organic statute of the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) is updated to incorporate the figure of the Chief Economist, a position of high responsibility and transversal scope that will be directly assigned to the Presidency of the regulator.
The Government frames this reform in the continued expansion of the functions of the CNMC. In particular, the regulation emphasizes that, since the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East, the agency has taken on specific tasks to study the effect and effectiveness of the anti-crisis measures adopted.
With the aim of managing a growing volume of information, taking advantage of advanced economic analysis techniques, and using tools such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Executive has decided to articulate this "provided reinforcement" in the upper technical structure of the CNMC.
The Chief Economist will have full functional autonomy and will provide specialized economic advice to the instruction and resolution bodies in competition, regulation, and supervision files, accompanying all phases of processing.
Among its functions, it will also highlight the design of common methodologies, the use of large databases through technological analysis tools, and the promotion of strategic planning of actions with economic impact.
In addition, it will act as an institutional interlocutor with the academic and scientific field, fostering agreements and avenues of cooperation with universities, research centers, and specialists in the subject.
The Plenary of the CNMC Council will be responsible for appointing and dismissing the holder of this position, at the proposal of the Presidency, based on criteria of solid training and proven track record in the field of economics.
New Subdirectorate of Economic Intelligence
The Royal Decree also includes the establishment of the Subdirectorate of Economic Intelligence, an executive body that will depend directly on the Chief Economist.
This unit will assume the mission of developing new tools for quantitative analysis and business intelligence, exploiting economic databases, and applying statistical models and artificial intelligence to support the different areas of the supervisor.
Likewise, it will work closely with the instruction departments in the detection and investigation of possible collusive or restrictive competition behaviors.
The person who occupies this sub-directorate will be appointed by the Council at the proposal of the Presidency and after hearing from the Chief Economist, prioritizing profiles with solid training in statistics and data processing.
The new regulation adjusts the regulatory framework of 2013 to expressly recognize the status of managerial personnel both for the Chief Economist and for the head of the Sub-directorate of Economic Intelligence.
The processing of this royal decree was promoted at the joint initiative of the first vice president and minister of Economy, Trade and Business, Carlos Cuerpo; of the minister of Finance, Arcadi España, and of the minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, and had the favorable opinion of the Council of State.