The Government is studying whether to recover the Lobby Law after its failure.

The so-called “Lobby Law bill” you refer to is the Transparency and Integrity of Interest Groups Activities Bill, promoted by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration and submitted to Congress in February 2025. This bill is formally still under consideration in the Lower House, but politically blocked and without effective progress since late 2025.

From a strictly parliamentary point of view, the sources consulted indicate that the bill:

• Is processed in the Congress of Deputies as a government bill to regulate interest groups at the state level, creating a mandatory registry, a regulatory footprint, and a sanctioning regime.
• Passed the consideration stage in Plenary: Congress rejected Vox's total amendment requesting the return of the text to the Government, with only Vox voting in favor, the PP abstaining, and the rest of the groups voting against. From that moment, the bill was fully admitted for processing.
• Entered the amendment phase to the articles. The deadline opened in early February 2025 and the Congress Board extended it up to 17 times, which effectively slowed down the processing considerably. Finally, the Board decided to conclude that period and closed the amendment deadline in September 2025.
• Once the deadline closed, the working group within the Finance and Public Administration Committee was established, tasked with studying the amendments and drafting a report. Demócrata documents the formal constitution of the working group in November 2025 and the holding of working meetings.
• According to the same information, the bill passed the amendment closure and working group phase, but a committee report was not approved to be submitted to the Plenary, much less sent to the Senate. The Government's initial goal was to have it voted on in the last ordinary Plenary of 2025, but a sufficient majority was not reached.

From there, the processing reached a deadlock. Various parliamentary chronicles describe that:

• The bill is “paralyzed in the Chamber” after the working group phase, with no new calls made to close a report that could go to the Plenary.
• The European Commission, in its report on the Rule of Law in Spain, notes that the Transparency and Integrity of Interest Groups Activities Bill “has not yet been approved by Parliament” and emphasizes that its processing remains blocked due to lack of political agreement.
• In parallel, Congress is processing a reform of its Rules of Procedure to regulate the relationship between lobbies and deputies, also with delays and very prolonged amendment periods, which has contributed to a sense of gridlock in the entire lobby package.

The blockage has also had a significant consequence: faced with the impossibility of closing a sufficient agreement in Congress on this bill, the Government chose to replace the strictly parliamentary route with a royal decree-law. At the end of August 2026, the Council of Ministers approved the Royal Decree-Law on Interest Groups, which reproduces much of the content worked on in the bill, and sent it to Congress for ratification. The Demócrata note on that decree-law explains that the Executive resorts to this formula “after the lobby bill was blocked in the Lower House due to the impossibility of gathering sufficient support”.

With all this, the current snapshot is as follows:

• Formal status: the Transparency and Integrity of Interest Groups Activities Bill remains registered and technically under processing in Congress, in the committee/working group phase, with the amendment deadline closed and working group meetings held, but without an approved report nor referral to the Plenary or the Senate.
• Political status: it is considered a “blocked” bill, with no progress since late 2025, due to lack of a stable majority to approve a consensus text. This blockage has led the Government to attempt regulating lobbies via a decree-law, whose ratification is now in the hands of the Plenary.

In summary, the “Lobby Law bill” is formally alive but frozen in Congress: it has not been withdrawn or lapsed, but its processing is halted after the working group phase, without a committee report or final debate in Plenary, which in practice constitutes the blockage you mention.

The Minister of Digital Transformation and Public Administration is the Government member responsible for leading the department in charge of both the digital agenda and the public employment and public administration policy of the State. Their powers derive mainly from Law 50/1997, of November 27, on the Government (which regulates the functions of Government members) and from the Royal Decree 829/2023, of November 20, restructuring ministerial departments, modified by Royal Decree 1230/2023, of December 29, which defines the material scope of this Ministry.

1. General powers as a Government member and head of department

Like any minister, the holder of Digital Transformation and Public Administration:

• Is part of the Government, a collegiate body responsible for directing internal and external policy, civil and military administration, and State defense, as well as executive function and regulatory power.
• Leads the ministerial department, assuming strategic planning, priority setting, and coordination of the Secretariats of State and other senior and management bodies dependent on the Ministry.
• Submits proposals to the Council of Ministers within their material scope (digital transformation, telecommunications, public administration, and public governance), including the submission of draft laws and royal decrees.
• Executes Government decisions within their competencies and ensures their correct application by the General State Administration.
• Represents the Ministry before other constitutional bodies, autonomous communities, local entities, social agents, and, when appropriate, in international forums, acting on behalf of the Government in their material sphere.

2. Powers in digital transformation, telecommunications, and the digital sector

The relevant article of Royal Decree 829/2023, as amended by Royal Decree 1230/2023, expressly establishes that:

• The Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration is responsible for proposing and executing the Government's policy on telecommunications, information society, digital transformation, and the development and promotion of artificial intelligence.

Based on this formulation, the minister's functions include, among others:

• Driving the country's digital transformation strategy, coordinating programs and plans (e.g., digital infrastructures, digital services, and data economy).
• Designing and implementing policy on telecommunications and digital infrastructures (electronic communications networks, radio spectrum, high-capacity connectivity).
• Developing and executing policies on information society and digital services, including areas such as the digital economy, online services, and user protection in this field, in coordination with other competent departments.
• Promoting the development and promotion of artificial intelligence, both from a regulatory perspective and through support programs, standards, advisory bodies, and coordination with the European Union.
• Leading and coordinating the actions of the three Secretariats of State in their digital scope: Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures and Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, setting priorities and approving main lines of action.

3. Powers in public administration and state public employment

The same provision of Royal Decree 829/2023, in its section 2, establishes that:

• The Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration is responsible for proposing and executing the Government's policy on public administration, public function, and public governance.

From this derive, in summary, the following ministerial functions:

• Defining and leading the public function and public employment policy of the General State Administration (AGE), in coordination with the Secretariat of State for Public Function.
• Promoting reforms of administrative modernization, simplification of procedures, internal digital administration, and governance and public policy evaluation models.
• Proposing and executing common criteria on human resources in the AGE: workforce planning, state public employee statute, career development, and selection systems, within the framework of basic regulations.
• Coordinating the AGE's position in cooperation bodies on public function and public administration with autonomous communities and local entities.

4. Other relevant functions

In addition to the above, the combination of Law 50/1997 and Royal Decree 829/2023 (with the modification of Royal Decree 1230/2023) implies other significant responsibilities for the minister:

• Derived regulatory power in their scope: promoting the drafting of royal decrees and ministerial orders in telecommunications, digital services, artificial intelligence, public administration, and public function.
• Direction and oversight of agencies attached to the Ministry in digital or public function matters (such as specialized agencies or entities), setting objectives and evaluating results according to their statutes.
• Participation and leadership in the Spanish position before the European Union and international forums on issues of digital economy and rights, connectivity, artificial intelligence, digital administration, and public employment.
• Promotion of cross-cutting public governance strategies, coordinating with other ministries to improve regulatory quality, transparency, and policy evaluation, as public governance is part of their material scope.

Overall, the legislation configures the Minister of Digital Transformation and Public Administration as the central figure in the Government's action on the country's digitalization and the modernization and strategic management of public employment and the General State Administration.

A royal decree-law is a norm with the force of law that the Government can issue in cases of extraordinary and urgent necessity, according to Article 86 of the Constitution. For it to be approved by the Government and subsequently processed in Congress (ratification or repeal and, if applicable, processing as a bill), a series of material requirements (regarding content and the situation it intends to address) and formal requirements (regarding procedure and form) must be met.

1. Material requirements of the royal decree-law

a) Extraordinary and urgent necessity

This is the essential enabling premise. There must be an objective situation requiring an immediate normative response that could not be obtained in time through ordinary lawmaking:

• It is usually linked to economic crises, health emergencies, disasters, serious social conflicts, or the need to avoid immediate harm (e.g., expiration of deadlines, automatic application of a European norm, etc.).
• The Government has a margin of appreciation, but Congress and the Constitutional Court oversee that the decree-law is not used as an ordinary legislative route.
• The statement of reasons and the ratification debate must explicitly justify why this urgency exists.

b) Connection of sense

There must be a direct and proportionate relationship between the extraordinary and urgent necessity situation and the measures adopted. It is not enough to invoke a generic crisis:

• The specific measures of the royal decree-law must be appropriate and necessary to address the urgent situation described.
• The figure is distorted if unrelated measures (“omnibus decrees”) are mixed without sufficient justification.

c) Material limits of Article 86 CE

The royal decree-law cannot affect certain reserved matters, which must be regulated by formal ordinary or organic law:

• Rights, duties, and freedoms of citizens regulated in Title I of the Constitution, when their impact is direct and substantial (which has generated abundant constitutional doctrine on when it is considered “affecting”).
• Regime of the Autonomous Communities, i.e., the basic structure of their self-government and competencies.
• General electoral regime, which requires a high level of stability and consensus.

Additionally, although not expressly mentioned in Article 86 CE, it is understood that a royal decree-law cannot substitute organic laws nor be used to empty their content.

2. Formal requirements and governmental procedure

a) Approval by the Council of Ministers

The royal decree-law is always a provision approved by the Council of Ministers. It cannot originate from Parliament or other bodies:

• A normative text with the force of law is drafted, with articles, additional provisions, transitional provisions, etc.
• It is accompanied by a justification report, technical reports, and especially a statement of reasons that supports the extraordinary and urgent necessity.

b) Publication and entry into force

Once approved:

• It is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), the moment it acquires validity and force of law, unless the text itself defers the entry into force.
• Its character is provisional, because it is subject to the subsequent decision of Congress.

3. Processing in Congress: ratification, repeal, and bill processing

a) Deadline and type of session

Article 86 CE requires Congress to decide on the royal decree-law within a maximum period of 30 days from its promulgation:

• A specific ratification debate must be held, usually in Plenary.
• The initiative for the debate corresponds to the Government and the Congress Board, which includes it in the agenda.

b) Majorities and effects of the vote

Congress votes on ratification or repeal:

• It is decided by simple majority of votes cast (more votes in favor than against).
• If ratified, the royal decree-law maintains its validity as law, without needing to pass through the Senate.
• If repealed, it ceases to have effect from that moment; Congress may establish how to handle situations produced during its validity.

c) Possible processing as a bill

In the same ratification act, Congress may agree, by simple majority, that the royal decree-law be processed as a bill by the urgent procedure:

• In that case, the text is sent to the competent committee, an amendment period opens, and abbreviated parliamentary processing follows (Congress and then Senate).
• This option allows introducing amendments and technically improving the norm, without losing the immediate effectiveness it already had as a decree-law.

In summary, for a norm to be processed as a royal decree-law in Congress it must: respond to a situation of extraordinary and urgent necessity, respect the material limits of Article 86 CE, be formally approved by the Council of Ministers and published in the BOE, and ultimately pass the political control of Congress through its ratification, with or without subsequent processing as a bill.