Fren responds: how are the CNMC counselors named?

According to Law 3/2013, the president of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) is simultaneously the president of the organism's Council and assumes institutional representation functions, internal management, activity promotion, and personnel leadership, in addition to significant competencies in budgetary matters and accountability. They are appointed by the Government through a royal decree, after appearing before the Congress, for a non-renewable six-year term, within the general regime of Council members. The law assigns them a central role in the functioning of the Council (plenary and chambers) and in the CNMC's relationship with the General Courts and the public. All this is set out in Chapter III, “Organization and Functioning,” of Law 3/2013.

Appointment, term, and status of the president

Law 3/2013 configures the CNMC with two governing bodies: the Council and the president, who is also president of the Council. The Council is composed of ten members: a president, a vice president, and eight councilors. All of them, including the president, are appointed by the Government through a royal decree, at the proposal of the Minister of Economy and Competitiveness, from persons of recognized prestige and professional competence in the Commission's field of action.

The appointment requires a prior appearance of the proposed person before the competent commission of the Congress of Deputies. The Congress can veto the appointment by an absolute majority agreement within one calendar month from the communication; if it does not decide within that period, the appointment is considered accepted. The term of Council members is six years without the possibility of re-election, with partial renewal every two years, so that no member (including the president) can remain in office for more than six years.

Role in the Council and in the structure of bodies

In the CNMC's organizational design, the president occupies a key position in the functioning of the Council:

• Presides over the Council plenary, which is composed of all members. In case of vacancy, absence, or illness, they are replaced by the vice president or, failing that, the longest-serving councilor (and, if equal, the oldest).
• The plenary is validly constituted when the president (or their substitute), the secretary, and at least five Council members attend.
• The CNMC is organized into two chambers: one for competition and another for regulatory supervision. The Competition Chamber is presided over by the CNMC president, while the Regulatory Supervision Chamber is presided over by the vice president.
• The convocation of the chambers corresponds to their president, on their own initiative or at the request of at least half of the chamber's councilors.

Functions and competencies specific to the president

The law details a specific list of functions attributed to the CNMC president. Among the main ones are:

• General functions of presiding over a collegiate body: to exercise, generally, the competencies that administrative procedure regulations assign to presidents of administrative collegiate bodies.
• Convocation and presidency of the full Council: to convene the full Council, on their own initiative or at the request of at least half of the councilors, and to preside over its meetings.
• Legal and institutional representation: to hold the legal and institutional representation of the Commission.
• Direction and promotion of activity: to ensure the proper development of CNMC actions according to the legal framework, maintain good order and governance of the organization, and promote the fulfillment of entrusted functions, including particularly the proposal of annual or multi-year action plans defining objectives and priorities.
• Personnel leadership: to exercise personnel leadership functions of the Commission, in accordance with applicable specific legislation.
• Internal direction and coordination: to direct, coordinate, evaluate, and supervise the different CNMC units, without prejudice to the Council's functions, and to coordinate — with the assistance of the Council secretary — the proper functioning of the organism's units.

Law 3/2013 also adds a key function in the economic-financial field: the president is responsible for approving expenses, ordering payments, and rendering accounts of the organism, in accordance with the General Budgetary Law. This places them as the ultimate responsible for the CNMC's budget execution.

Relationship with parliamentary control

Regarding democratic control, the law establishes that parliamentary control of the CNMC is articulated through the president's appearances before the Congress of Deputies, with a minimum annual frequency. This duty of appearance reinforces the president's political responsibility regarding the Commission's activity, its reports, the annual report, and action plans, which the CNMC must make public.

Overall, Law 3/2013 configures the CNMC president as a figure with a strong institutional, executive, and accountability component before the Courts, concentrating the strategic and organizational direction of the organism and ensuring its internal coordination and external accountability.

Joan Capdevila i Esteve is a veterinarian by profession and a Catalan politician linked to independence, with a long trajectory in the Congress of Deputies with Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) and recent experience as delegate of the Govern in Madrid, before being proposed as a councilor of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC). His profile combines technical training in Veterinary Medicine, later specialization in public management, and political activity focused on the regulation of strategic sectors (industry, energy, ecological transition). Additionally, he has promoted opinion and political analysis projects and has worked in the business and public affairs fields.

Education and original profession

Sources agree that Capdevila holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine and that his base profession is veterinarian, something also emphasized by the newspaper Demócrata when presenting him as a “veterinarian by training” in the piece about CNMC candidates, where it is indicated that “Joan Capdevila, veterinarian by training, was ERC's Economy spokesperson and chaired the Industry Commission in the last legislature” (Demócrata news about CNMC candidates).

Besides the degree in Veterinary Medicine, various public biographies record complementary training in management and public policies: master's or executive programs in governance and management (cited in media such as Animals Health and transparency profiles), as well as a link to the Academy of Veterinary Sciences as a full member. This combination of technical health training and management skills is one of the elements highlighted when justifying his suitability for regulatory bodies.

Political evolution and party membership

Politically, his trajectory begins in the Catalan Christian democratic space. Various sources (including Transparentia/Newtral and Wikipedia) indicate that he was a member for years of Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC), where he promoted an internal critical current known as El Matí. He broke with UDC in 2009 due to disagreements with Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida's leadership and his position regarding Catalonia's status, and moved clearly into the sovereigntist space.

Later, he became linked to Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC). In the general elections of 2015, 2016, and 2019, he appeared as a candidate for Barcelona on lists led by ERC and was elected deputy in all of them; in 2023 he repeated the position but did not win a seat due to the party's loss of support, as reconstructed by media such as Libertad Digital. Although some sources emphasize that he has not always been an organic member of ERC, he is described as a trusted figure of Oriol Junqueras' leadership.

Trajectory in the Congress of Deputies

Capdevila was a deputy in the Congress for Barcelona during four consecutive legislatures: XI, XII, XIII, and XIV, between 2016 and 2023. During that period, he developed intense activity in economic matters and regulated sectors. According to parliamentary biographies and specialized profiles, he held the following key roles:

• President of the Industry, Commerce, and Tourism Commission, placing him at the center of the agenda on industrial policy, energy, and tourism.
• Spokesperson of ERC in economic commissions, including Economy and Ecological Transition, as recalled by several chronicles and Demócrata itself when profiling him as “ERC's Economy spokesperson” (Demócrata).
• Internal responsible of the republican group for legislation and regulation of strategic sectors (energy, industry, competition), according to transparency databases and parliamentary analysis such as Transparentia or the sectoral profile of AELEC.

In those years, his positioning is characterized by a combination of sovereigntism, progressive approach, and references to social Catholicism, according to biographical syntheses from Catalan media such as Nació Digital.

Institutional positions and activity after Congress

After leaving Congress in 2023, Capdevila maintains one foot in institutional politics and another in consultancy and public policy analysis.

On one hand, Demócrata itself has reported that between 2024 and 2025 he was delegate of the Generalitat of Catalonia's Govern in Madrid, that is, the political and institutional representative of the Catalan Executive before state institutions (Demócrata). This position gave him direct knowledge of Generalitat–Central Government relations and interlocution with ministries and parliamentary groups.

On the other hand, the opinion article “Tocqueville, the lobby, and the democratic art of influencing,” published in Demócrata and signed by him, presents a biographical note stating that “Joan Capdevila was a deputy in Congress for ERC between 2016 and 2023. He now directs the Catalonia office of Vinces” (Demócrata article). That is, he joins the public affairs and regulatory lobbying sector, directing the Catalan office of a consultancy specialized in institutional relations and regulation.

Other sources add that he has served as director of the digital media El Matí, heir to his former critical current during the UDC stage, and that he even participated in a candidacy for the presidency of FC Barcelona in 2010, illustrating his public projection beyond political institutions (recorded, among others, in Transparentia and Wikipedia).

Before the CNMC: a “political-technical” profile in regulated sectors

In summary, before his appointment as CNMC councilor, Joan Capdevila arrives with:

• Basic training in Veterinary Medicine and advanced studies in public management and governance.
• Long experience as a deputy in Congress (2016–2023), focused on commissions of industry, energy, economy, and ecological transition, including presidency of the Industry, Commerce, and Tourism Commission.
• Responsibilities as delegate of the Generalitat Govern in Madrid between 2024 and 2025.
• Activity in the public affairs sector, directing the Catalonia office of Vinces, and in political opinion media.

This hybrid trajectory — half political, half expert in regulated sectors — is invoked in media such as Europa Press and in Demócrata's explanatory pieces (Fren answers about CNMC councilors; news about Ganuza's proposal and new councilors) to understand his designation as regulator councilor.

A candidate for councilor of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) must be a person of recognized prestige and professional competence in the Commission's specific field of action, be appointed by the Government through a royal decree at the proposal of the competent minister, and pass an appearance before Congress, which can veto their appointment by absolute majority within one month. Once appointed, they will serve with exclusive dedication and have the status of senior official of the General State Administration, subject to the incompatibility regime of Law 5/2006. Additionally, they cannot assume internal executive functions typical of management personnel and, after their cessation, will have a two-year restriction on private professional activity in sectors regulated by the CNMC. Causes for cessation (resignation, incompatibilities, conviction for intentional crime, incapacity, etc.) operate de facto as material limits to their eligibility and tenure.

Applicable legal framework

The legal requirements are mainly set out in:

• Law 3/2013, of June 4, creating the CNMC, which regulates the composition and regime of Council members (including councilors). It can be consulted at Law 3/2013.
• Royal Decree 657/2013, of August 30, approving the CNMC's Organic Statute and referring, for the appointment and cessation of councilors, to articles 15 and 23 of Law 3/2013, and to article 22 for incompatibilities. It is available at the CNMC Organic Statute.
• Law 5/2006, of April 10, regulating conflicts of interest of Government members and senior officials of the General State Administration, expressly referred to by Law 3/2013 for the incompatibility regime of councilors (no link available in consulted sources).
• Law 3/2013 has been partially amended by Law 13/2022, General Audiovisual Communication Law, although this amendment mainly affects functions in the audiovisual field, not the basic regime of councilors.

Within the general normative relations framework, Law 3/2013 repeals or modifies, among others, norms such as Law 7/2010, General Audiovisual Communication Law, Law 23/2007, creating the National Postal Sector Commission, Law 39/2003, Railway Sector Law, Law 32/2003, General Telecommunications Law, Law 13/2011, Gambling Regulation Law, Law 2/2011, Sustainable Economy Law, and Law 15/2007, Competition Defense Law, while the Organic Statute partially repeals, among others, Royal Decree 331/2008, Royal Decree 261/2008, Royal Decree 2387/2004, and Royal Decree 1339/1999. There are also internal CNMC resolutions about its Contracting Board, such as those from 2013, 2014, and 2015 (2013 resolution, 2014 modification, and 2015 resolution), although they do not affect the requirements to be a councilor.

Eligibility conditions and appointment procedure

From Law 3/2013, the substantive and formal requirements to be appointed councilor are derived:

• Professional profile: Council members, including President and Vice President, must be persons of recognized prestige and professional competence in the CNMC's field of action.
• Appointment by the Government: they are appointed by the Government through a royal decree, at the proposal of the Minister of Economy and Competitiveness (today, the ministry with CNMC's attachment competencies).
• Ex ante parliamentary control: before appointment, the proposed person appears before the competent commission of the Congress of Deputies. The Congress can veto the appointment by absolute majority within one month from receiving the communication; if it does not decide, the appointment is considered accepted.
• Term: Council members' term is six years, without re-election possibility, with partial renewals every two years. Although this affects more the duration of the office than initial eligibility, it conditions the planning of replacements.

Incompatibilities and dedication regime

Regarding the office's performance, Law 3/2013 establishes that Council members:

• Perform their function with exclusive dedication and have the status of senior officials of the General State Administration.
• Cannot individually assume executive or management functions of specific CNMC areas corresponding to management personnel.
• Are subject to the incompatibility regime of activities provided for senior officials in Law 5/2006 and its development regulations, implying relevant restrictions regarding other public and private activities (not detailed in consulted sources).
• During the two years after cessation, President, Vice President, and councilors cannot engage in private professional activity related to sectors regulated and CNMC activity.

Causes of cessation and de facto ineligibility

Law 3/2013 also sets causes for Council members' cessation, which operate as material limits to their continuity and, in practice, to their eligibility if they occurred from the start. Causes for cessation are:

• Resignation accepted by the Government.
• Expiration of the term.
• Supervening incompatibility.
• Having been convicted of an intentional crime.
• Permanent incapacity.
• Separation agreed by the Government for serious breach of duties or obligations regarding incompatibilities, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality, after an investigation by the competent ministry.

The norm does not detail, in the available text, a closed list of prior ineligibility causes (before appointment), but the submission to the general senior official regime and these cessation causes outline the required standard: professional solvency in regulated markets, independence, absence of relevant conflicts of interest, and a trajectory compatible with exercising senior official functions.