The price of public contracts, in the spotlight: the consensus to review them clashes with the veto of the Treasury

The initiative you refer to is the “Bill Proposal for the update of prices in public sector contracts”, registered by the Plurinational Parliamentary Group SUMAR in the Congress of Deputies with identifier 122/000158. As of today, its status is that it has been admitted for processing but is pending consideration by the Plenary; that is, the parliamentary processing has not really started yet.

Current status of the bill proposal

According to institutional information:

• The text of the bill proposal was published in the Official Bulletin of the General Courts on February 21, 2025 (Series B), with file number 122/000158. The official PDF can be consulted on the Congress website: Official Bulletin of the General Courts – 122/000158.
• On March 29, 2025, the initiative was admitted for processing by the Congress Board and forwarded to the Government for the purposes of article 126 of the Regulations, remaining in a “pending consideration” status.
• There is no record that the debate on consideration has yet taken place nor that the amendment period has opened; there are also no votes associated with this file.

In summary, the Government has given its consent for the proposal to be processed and it is formally active, but it has not yet been included in a Plenary agenda for the Chamber to decide whether to consider it or not. Until that debate and vote occur, the initiative remains at a very early stage.

Pending parliamentary steps

From the current phase (“pending consideration”), the remaining path in the ordinary legislative procedure would generally be as follows:

1. Consideration in the Plenary of the Congress

• The proposing group itself (SUMAR) must request that the proposal be included in the Plenary agenda.
• In the Plenary, a debate on consideration is held and a vote is taken on whether the Chamber accepts or rejects the processing of the proposal:
  • If the Plenary rejects the consideration, the initiative lapses and the processing ends there.
  • If the Plenary considers it, the full legislative procedure opens.

2. Amendment phase and committee work

• Once consideration is passed, the proposal is sent to the competent committee by subject matter (likely the one related to Treasury/public procurement).
• A period for submitting amendments to the articles opens (and, if applicable, total amendments with alternative text, if the Regulations allow at that time).
• The committee may appoint a Subcommittee to work on the text and amendments and prepare a report.
• Based on that report, the committee debates and votes on a opinion, which will be the text submitted to the Plenary unless the committee has full legislative competence.

3. Plenary of the Congress and sending to the Senate

• If the committee does not have full legislative competence (the usual case), the opinion is debated and voted on in the Plenary of the Congress, along with the amendments still alive.
• Once the text is approved by simple majority, the proposal becomes a bill sent to the Senate.

4. Processing in the Senate and return to the Congress

• The Senate may:
  • Approve the text without changes.
  • Approve it with amendments.
  • Raise a veto (return).
• If it introduces amendments or issues a veto, the text returns to the Congress, which decides:
  • Whether to override the veto, with the required majority.
  • Whether to accept or reject totally or partially the Senate’s amendments.

5. Final approval and publication in the Official State Gazette

• Once the final text is approved by the General Courts, it proceeds to sanction and promulgation by the King.
• The law is published in the Official State Gazette and comes into force on the date established in its final provision (or, failing that, after 20 days).

As long as the Sumar bill proposal remains unconsidered, all these steps are still pending. The decisive element in the short term is for the group to get it placed on a Plenary agenda and pass that first vote; only then will substantive processing begin on the content that modifies Law 9/2017 on Public Sector Contracts.

According to Spanish legislation, the Ministry of Finance does not set the specific price of each public sector contract, but it does play a central role in the normative and technical framework for the determination and, above all, the review of prices. Its powers are mainly articulated through Law 9/2017, on Public Sector Contracts, Law 2/2015 on the deindexation of the Spanish economy, its implementing regulations, and the Ministry's internal organization.

1. Basic legal framework: LCSP and deindexation

The Law 9/2017, on Public Sector Contracts (text in BOE) establishes the legal regime for public sector contracting. In its system:

• It defines the concepts of estimated value, base bidding budget, and contract price, on which price review formulas are built.
• It provides that the price review must comply with Law 2/2015, on the deindexation of the Spanish economy (link), requiring the use of specific indices linked to the cost components of the service.

This framework explicitly refers to regulatory development and the setting of price indices and standard formulas, an area in which the Ministry of Finance plays a prominent role.

2. Approval of official indices for price review

A very clear competence of the Ministry of Finance is to approve, periodically, the official indices applied to the price review of public contracts:

• Various orders, such as Order HAC/1520/2025, of December 18, on price indices for labor, materials, specific armament materials, and passenger road transport components (link), are issued “in accordance with article 103 of Law 9/2017.”
• These orders (HAC/1520/2025, HAC/1054/2025, HAC/817/2025, HAC/247/2025, HAC/723/2024, HAC/530/2024, HFP/1358/2023, etc.) set quarterly price indices for labor and various types of materials, which contracting bodies must use when price review applies.

In practice, this means that Finance determines the mandatory technical reference to update the price of many contracts, although the specific application to the file corresponds to the contracting body.

3. Regulation of rules and formulas for price review

The Ministry of Finance also has regulatory powers over the rules for determining indices and review formulas. Notably:

• Order HAP/1292/2013, of June 28, which establishes the rules for determining the indices involved in price review formulas for public contracts (link). This order sets:
  • The calculation methodology for monthly price indices.
  • The rules on basic cost components to consider.
• The Resolution of October 20, 2015, from the Directorate General of State Heritage, publishes an agreement of the State Contracts Price Superior Committee that determines linking coefficients for the correct application of these rules (link).

All this configures a system in which Finance not only approves indices but also designs the technical architecture of price review (standard formulas, cost components, and linking coefficients).

4. Bodies dependent on Finance with a role in prices

Several units attached to the Ministry intervene in this matter:

• The Directorate General of State Heritage, a Finance body, publishes agreements of the State Contracts Price Superior Committee, which specifies technical parameters (coefficients, adjustments) necessary to correctly apply the review indices.
• The General Intervention of the State Administration (IGAE), also dependent on Finance, exercises key control over the correct application of contracting and price review regulations. The Resolution of July 25, 2018, on the exercise of the auditing function in the field of public sector contracts and assignments to own means (link), shows how contracting is subject to prior auditing under basic requirements, including examination of the price and its reviews.

5. Centralized contracting and reference price policies

The Ministry of Finance also assumes powers in centralized contracting, which indirectly affect price formation:

• Order HFP/457/2018, of April 30, which modifies Order EHA/1049/2008 on centralized contracting of goods and services (link), is issued citing Law 9/2017. Through centralized contracting, Finance:
  • Defines common use goods and services acquired jointly.
  • Approves standard specifications with reference prices, which condition the final price of derived contracts and framework agreements.

6. Summary

Overall, from the analyzed regulations it follows that the Ministry of Finance:

• Approves the official indices that allow reviewing prices of numerous contracts (HAC/HFP orders issued under art. 103 LCSP).
• Regulates the technical rules for price review and cost components (Order HAP/1292/2013 and agreements of the State Contracts Price Superior Committee).
• Controls, through IGAE, that the setting and review of contract prices comply with budgetary and contracting regulations.
• Influences reference prices through centralized contracting and approval of centralized specifications and catalogs.

Therefore, although it does not manually determine the price of each contract, Finance designs and supervises the normative, technical, and control framework that conditions both the initial setting and subsequent review of prices in public sector contracting.

Under the current public procurement regime in Spain, the contracting company can only request a price update (review) of a contract if a series of material, temporal, and formal requirements are met, mainly established in article 103 of Law 9/2017, on Public Sector Contracts, Law 2/2015 on the deindexation of the Spanish economy, its implementing regulations (Royal Decree 55/2017, of February 3, and rules on official indices such as Royal Decree 1359/2011 and Order HAP/1292/2013, along with periodic index orders, for example Order HAC/817/2025).

1. Material requirements

• Existence of a clause or legal authorization. As a general rule, price review is only possible if:
  • The review clause is expressly provided in the specifications and contract, or
  • A law or regulation imposes or authorizes such review for certain contracts (for example, works contracts or regular passenger road transport contracts, for which specific formulas and indices are approved).
  If the contract does not provide for review and there is no specific legal authorization, the price is basically fixed and cannot be updated due to mere cost increases or CPI changes.
• Type of contract. The system has been restricted by the Deindexation Law:
  • A classic review regime is maintained for works contracts and certain supplies of armament and equipment manufacturing, with standard formulas and basic materials defined in Royal Decree 1359/2011.
  • For other contracts (especially services), periodic review is only possible in cases admitted by Law 2/2015 and Royal Decree 55/2017, and must be objectively justified by the cost structure.
• Linkage to objective costs. Any review regime must be based on:
  • The real cost structure of the service (energy, materials, labor, maintenance, etc.).
  • Official indices approved by Finance (periodic orders of labor, materials, and component price indices), in accordance with article 103 LCSP itself and the HAC orders on price indices.
  Generally, a simple automatic and generalized CPI indexation is not accepted, precisely due to Law 2/2015.

2. Temporal requirements

The regulatory development of deindexation sets minimum thresholds before periodic review proceeds:

• Non-immediacy. Royal Decree 55/2017 provides, for contracts other than works and certain supplies, that:
  • The price is not reviewed until at least two years have passed since contract formalization, and
  • At least 20 % of the contract amount has been executed.
• Predetermined periodicity. The review must be periodic and predetermined (for example, annual or at specific milestones), according to the approved formula and official indices available for the corresponding periods.
• Exceptional deadlines. In extraordinary regimes (such as the exceptional price review of public works contracts included in Royal Decree-law 3/2022 and subsequent rules), specific time windows and cost periods to be accredited are set; the company must fit its request within those deadlines.

3. Formal and procedural requirements

• Express request to the contracting body. The company cannot apply the review on its own: it must submit a motivated request to the competent contracting body, citing the contractual clause or the rule that supports the review.
• Minimum supporting documentation (according to the specifications and applicable regulations):
  • Copy of the contract and the price and review clauses.
  • Detailed calculation of the applicable review formula, referencing the official indices published in the BOE (labor, materials, fuel, etc.).
  • If applicable, an economic report proving the cost structure used and the real impact of price variations.
• Administrative processing. The contracting body analyzes the request, may seek legal and economic reports, and finally issues an agreement of acceptance (total or partial) or rejection. Until there is an express agreement, the company must continue invoicing at the current price.

4. Main exclusions and limits

• Review is not allowed if the contract or its specifications do not provide for it and there is no specific rule imposing it.
• Review cannot make revisable concepts excluded by the regulations (for example, certain business margins or costs not linked to objective indices).
• Exceptional regimes (such as those linked to energy or inflation crises) only apply to contracts and periods expressly delimited in each royal decree-law.

In short, for a company to request the update of the price of a public contract, it needs at least that the review is provided for in the contract or law, that the required time and degree of execution have been met, that the update is based on formulas and official indices, and that it submits a formal and documented request to the contracting body.