EXCLUSIVA A report from Congress supports processing decrees as bills with the dissolved Cortes, but sets a limit: the new legislature.

The key is to distinguish what the Permanent Deputation can do during the dissolution and what only the already constituted Congress can do. The Constitution (art. 86 CE) requires that every royal decree-law (RDL) be ratified or repealed by the Congress within 30 days; the Congress Regulations assign this function, in case of dissolution, to the Permanent Deputation (arts. 56‑59 and 151). The conversion of the RDL into a bill is possible even "between legislatures," but its effective processing as law requires that the Chambers be constituted.

1) If the ratification and the agreement to process it as a bill occurred before the dissolution

In this case, the ordinary scheme of article 151.4 of the Congress Regulations applies:

• The Plenary ratifies the RDL.
• The Presidency asks if any group wishes its processing as a bill.
• If the Plenary agrees, the RDL is processed as a bill by the urgent procedure, without admitting total return amendments.

From there, the remaining procedures are those typical of a bill by urgency:

• Opening of a (shortened) period for amendments to the articles.
• Report from the Committee and opinion of the competent Commission.
• Debate and vote in the Plenary of the Congress.
• Referral to the Senate and, if applicable, processing (amendments, veto, lifting of veto or acceptance/rejection of amendments).

If the Cortes dissolve before this process concludes, the general rule is the lapse of initiatives in process at the end of the legislature. The Permanent Deputation cannot continue the processing of a bill: its functions, according to article 57, are limited to "safeguarding the powers of the Chamber" and, in case of dissolution, to assuming powers over royal decree-laws (ratification/repeal), states of alarm, exception and siege, etc., but not to continue processing ordinary laws.

Therefore, if the already ratified RDL was underway as a bill and dissolution occurs without the law being approved, the processing is interrupted and lapses. The ratified text remains in force as an RDL-law; to modify it or "replace" it with a law, a new initiative in the next legislature will be necessary (a new bill or a new ratification/bill on another RDL).

2) If the ratification occurs while the Chambers are already dissolved

Here, articles 57 and 151 of the Regulations come directly into play:

• Article 57.1.a assigns to the Permanent Deputation, in case of dissolution, "all the powers that article 86 of the Constitution attributes to the Congress in relation to royal decree-laws."
• Article 151.1 allows that the debate and vote on ratification or repeal of an RDL be held "in the Plenary of the Chamber or of the Permanent Deputation."
• Article 151.5 expressly adds that the Permanent Deputation may, if applicable, "process as bills by the urgent procedure the royal decree-laws that the Government issues during the periods between legislatures."

Therefore, during the dissolution:

• The Permanent Deputation can: debate and vote on the ratification or repeal of the RDL; and, if it decides, agree to its processing as a bill by urgency, even if "between legislatures."
• But it cannot: carry out the proper legislative procedures (amendments, committee, report, legislative plenary, referral to the Senate), because these require a constituted Chamber with its complete bodies (Board, Board of Spokespersons, commissions).

In practice, the agreement of the Permanent Deputation to process an RDL as a bill has an enabling and political commitment character, but the material processing is deferred to the next legislature.

3) Resumption (or not) in the new legislature

Once the Cortes are constituted, article 59 of the Congress Regulations obliges the Permanent Deputation to "report to the Plenary [...] on the matters it has dealt with and the decisions adopted." Among these will be:

• The agreements of ratification or repeal of RDLs.
• And, if applicable, the agreements of the Permanent Deputation itself that certain RDLs be processed as bills by urgency.

From that moment, the remaining procedures depend on the decision of the new Congress:

• The Board and/or the Plenary may assume the agreement of the Permanent Deputation and order the opening of the amendment period, the appointment of the Committee, the Commission report, and the debate and vote in Plenary, following the urgent procedure.
• If the Senate intervenes, it will continue as in any urgent bill: amendments, possible veto, and final decision of the Congress.
• If the new Congress does not promote that processing (due to political decision or inaction), the ratified RDL remains as a norm with the rank of law, without there being a "replacement law" derived from that processing.

In summary, the Permanent Deputation can ratify/repeal and agree that an RDL be processed as a bill even with the Chambers dissolved, but the effective conversion into law through the urgent legislative procedure can only be developed in the new legislature, based on the agreements adopted by the already constituted Congress.

The Permanent Deputation of the Congress is the body that ensures that Parliament never "completely disappears." The Constitution regulates it in article 78 and assigns it specific functions, especially when the Plenary cannot meet (between session periods or with the Chamber dissolved or with the mandate expired), and in very specific matters such as royal decree-laws and states of alarm, exception, and siege.

1. Composition and relationship with the Plenary

According to article 78 of the Constitution, in each Chamber (Congress and Senate) there is a Permanent Deputation composed of a minimum of 21 members, appointed by parliamentary groups in proportion to their numerical importance. That is, it reproduces in a reduced form the balance of power of the Plenary.

In the Congress, it is chaired by whoever is president of the Chamber, and it includes deputies from all groups, appointed at the start of the legislature. Despite its relevance, it is not a "third Chamber": it is an internal body of the Congress, acting on its behalf in the provided cases, but it does not generally substitute the Plenary nor assume all its powers.

2. Functions in the periods between sessions

Article 73 of the Constitution distinguishes two ordinary session periods of the Cortes Generales per year (September–December and February–June). Outside those periods, the Chambers only meet in extraordinary sessions when requested by the Government, the Permanent Deputation, or the absolute majority of members of one of them.

At this point, the Permanent Deputation has a "hinge" function:

• It can be convened in the periods between sessions to address urgent matters.
• It can request the convocation of an extraordinary Plenary session, when it is necessary for the Congress itself to meet.

In these intervals, without the Chamber being dissolved, the Permanent Deputation acts as a guard body: it monitors situations that might require immediate parliamentary action and decides if the Plenary should be convened.

3. Functions with the Chamber dissolved or with the mandate expired

Article 78.3 CE establishes that, when the mandate of the Chambers expires or they are dissolved, the Permanent Deputation "assumes their powers" until the new Cortes Generales are constituted. However, this assumption is not general and unlimited, but mainly refers to two very specific blocks that the Constitution itself foresees:

• Royal decree-laws (art. 86 CE): if the Government approves a royal decree-law when the Congress is dissolved or with the mandate expired, the power to ratify or repeal it within the following 30 days corresponds to the Permanent Deputation of the Congress. This maintains parliamentary control over an exceptional normative instrument even without an operative Plenary.
• States of alarm, exception, and siege (art. 116 CE): if any of these extraordinary states is declared or intended to be extended while the Congress is dissolved or with the mandate expired, their powers pass to the Permanent Deputation. It authorizes the extension of the state of alarm, and the declaration and extension of the states of exception and siege, ensuring that decisions of such importance are subject to parliamentary control.

4. Government control and royal decree-laws

In ordinary situations, political control of the Government (questions, interpellations, motions, investigative commissions, etc.) corresponds to the Plenary and the commissions. The Permanent Deputation does not replace that daily control nor can it, for example, process a motion of censure or a vote of confidence.

Its control role focuses on those two constitutionally reserved areas:

• Examination and decision on the ratification or repeal of royal decree-laws, when the Congress is dissolved or with its mandate expired.
• Authorization and monitoring of states of alarm, exception, and siege in that same type of situations.

Regarding the possible decision to later process a royal decree-law as a bill, the Constitution allows the Congress to agree on it (art. 86.3 CE), but the Permanent Deputation, not being holder of ordinary legislative power, limits itself in practice to ratification or repeal, leaving legislative development to the new Cortes.

5. Other powers and limits

Article 78.4 CE provides that, once the corresponding Chamber is convened, the Permanent Deputation must report to the Plenary on the matters dealt with and decisions adopted. This accountability obligation underscores its delegated body character and reinforces institutional continuity.

Negatively, it is key to specify what it cannot do according to the Constitution and the system's logic:

• It does not exercise ordinary legislative power: it does not approve laws or budgets.
• It does not intervene in the investiture of the President of the Government nor in the vote of confidence.
• It does not assume other parliamentary authorizations provided in the Constitution (international treaties, authorization to declare war or sign peace, etc.), except those related to states of alarm, exception, and siege.

In sum, the Permanent Deputation of the Congress is a reduced body that ensures the presence of Parliament at all times, but with constitutionally limited powers: mainly, to oversee control of royal decree-laws and exceptional states when the Plenary cannot meet, and to report afterwards to the Chamber once constituted.

During the period between legislatures — when the Cortes Generales are dissolved and only the Permanent Deputation functions — the margin to process a royal decree-law (RDL) as a bill is narrower and more debated than in ordinary situations. Still, the Constitution and the Regulations allow outlining some clear requirements and limits.

1. Constitutional and regulatory basis

• Article 86 CE: regulates the royal decree-law. It requires "extraordinary and urgent necessity," limits the subjects (cannot affect organic laws, general electoral regime, basic institutions of the Autonomous Communities, etc.) and provides that the Congress must ratify or repeal it within 30 days. Its paragraph 3 foresees that the RDL may be processed as a bill by the urgent procedure if the Congress so decides.
• Article 78 CE: establishes that, dissolved the Chambers or with their mandate expired, the Permanent Deputation "will assume the powers corresponding to the Chambers" in relation, among others, to royal decree-laws (art. 86 CE). Once the new Cortes are constituted, the Deputation must "report" on the matters dealt with and decisions adopted.
• Congress Regulations (RCD, arts. on royal decree-laws, particularly the provision now numbered as art. 151): develops the ratification debate and foresees that, in the same session in which the RDL is ratified, the Plenary may agree to its processing as a bill, usually by the urgent procedure.
• Senate Regulations: do not add specific requirements for this initial decision, which is the Congress's competence.

2. Can the Permanent Deputation agree to process it as a bill?

With the Chambers dissolved, the Permanent Deputation assumes the Congress's powers regarding royal decree-laws, but only to the extent that the Constitution expressly attributes them. This includes indisputably:

• Calling the ratification or repeal session.
• Debating and ratifying or repealing the RDL within 30 days.

The controversial part is whether it can also adopt the agreement of "processing as a bill" provided in art. 86.3 CE and developed by the RCD:

• A first restrictive reading emphasizes that the Permanent Deputation does not exercise full legislative power, but only limited functions (royal decree-laws and states of alarm, exception, and siege). Under this view, it could ratify or repeal, but not initiate a complete new legislative procedure.
• Another, more functional reading holds that if the Deputation replaces the Congress in the powers of art. 86 CE, it must be able to adopt the same package of decisions as the Plenary: ratify and, if applicable, agree to process as a bill, although the effective processing (amendments, reports, plenaries) is deferred to the new legislature.

Historical practice with dissolved Cortes shows abundant ratification of RDLs by the Permanent Deputation, but hardly clear precedents that it has effectively opened processing as a bill. This reinforces the idea that, although legally defensible that it adopts that agreement, its effective scope is very conditioned by the new Chamber.

3. Formal requirements and timing of the decision

When ratification is done in the period between legislatures, the basic requirements to open (at least in theory) the bill route are:

• Material requirements: the RDL must be valid (extraordinary and urgent necessity, respect for the material limits of art. 86 CE). Without prior ratification, there is no possibility of a bill.
• Competent body: the Permanent Deputation of the Congress, acting in substitution of the Plenary, is who debates and decides on the RDL.
• Timing: as in normal situations, the agreement to process as a bill must be adopted, if applicable, in the same session in which ratification is debated and within the constitutional 30-day period from the promulgation of the RDL.
• Form of the agreement: it is adopted by simple majority, usually at the initiative of the Government or a parliamentary group, and must be expressly stated in the resolution: ratify the RDL and process it as a bill by the urgent procedure.

4. Effects at the start of the new legislature

Once the new Congress is constituted, the Permanent Deputation must "report" on the decisions adopted during the dissolution (art. 78.4 CE). This includes:

• The RDLs already ratified, which remain in force as norms with the rank of law, regardless of whether there is a subsequent bill.
• Any agreements of "processing as a bill" adopted by the Deputation.

Here operates the principle of autonomy of the new Chamber and, in general, parliamentary discontinuity:

• The new Board and Plenary are not legally obliged to continue a legislative process that the previous Chamber only hinted at. They can:
  • Assume the agreement and order the continuation of the processing of the "bill derived from the RDL,"
  • redirect it (for example, requesting a new bill from the Government), or
  • simply not proceed with that processing, without affecting the validity of the already ratified RDL.
• In practice, the most solid effect of the period between legislatures is the ratification of the royal decree-law, not so much the opening of a bill that conditions the new majority.

In summary, during dissolution the Permanent Deputation can ratify or repeal royal decree-laws and, in a debated but defensible way, agree to their processing as bills. However, the key decision — to actually develop that legislative procedure or not — ultimately corresponds to the Congress constituted at the start of the new legislature.