Esquerra (ERC), Junts, Podemos, Compromís and the BNG, parties that supported the investiture of the Government, will bring a modification of the Regulations to the Plenary Session of Congress next week in order to soften the conditions required to form their own parliamentary group starting from the next general elections, according to the agenda of the next Plenary Session to which Europa Press has had access.
Specifically, the deputies who sign this reform proposal plan to change Article 23 of the 1982 Regulations, which today stipulates that to have one's own parliamentary group, it is necessary to have 15 seats or, as an alternative, to exceed five deputies and achieve 5% of the votes in the State as a whole or 15% in all the constituencies in which one competes.
With this initiative, ERC, Junts, Compromís, Podemos and BNG seek to lower the minimum percentage of votes at the state level from 5% to 3% to be able to form their own group, and the vote threshold required in the provinces where they run from 15% to 10%.
At the beginning of each legislature, it is common for smaller parties to have difficulties in gathering the seats and percentages set by the Regulations to form their own parliamentary group, which has sometimes led to major parties temporarily ceding some of their deputies. If the required number of seats is reached, the percentage of votes ceases to be decisive. However, any formula must have the approval of the Congress's Board, something that depends largely on the balance of power in that body.
In 2023, cession of deputies from PSC and Comuns
In the current legislature, both ERC and Junts did not meet the requirements set by the 1982 Regulations on their own and were forced to resort to loans of parliamentarians from the PSOE and Sumar: four deputies from the PSC were provisionally integrated into Junts' group and two from En Comú temporarily joined Esquerra's.
After the Board's agreement to validate the constitution of these groups by accepting the loans, thanks to the majority that PSOE and Sumar obtained after their agreements with ERC and Junts, the deputies from the PSC and En Comú later returned to their respective groups.
Having one's own group entails important political, economic, and resource advantages. Whoever achieves it ensures presence with their own voice in all debates and at least one representative in the parliamentary committees, in the Permanent Deputation and in the Board of Spokespersons, in addition to one question in each government control session. On the economic level, having one's own group allows receiving more subsidies and accessing aid for 'mailing'.
Update the 1982 Regulation
In the registered bill, to which Europa Press has had access, the promoters of the reform argue that this change is essential for the Congress Regulation to guarantee a framework of parliamentary participation that adequately reflects the political plurality expressed at the polls.
They emphasize that the regulation of parliamentary groups, due to its direct impact on the capacity for initiative, presence in the Chamber's bodies, intervention time, and the exercise of control functions, constitutes "a relevant element" to ensure that the representative mandate can be developed "under effective conditions".
In their view, the current requirements for forming parliamentary groups can cause, in certain scenarios, "rigidities not always in line with the plurality" that manifests itself in the processes of electing representatives.
For this reason, the reform seeks to "update" the regime for the constitution of parliamentary groups with the aim of "promoting a fuller projection" of citizens' political participation through their representatives and of pluralism in the internal organization and functioning of the Congress, as well as "strengthening the coherence of the current regulatory framework".