A statement of good intentions

The plan for a Transparency and Good Governance Law, which the government presented on Friday, is a hopeful statement of good intentions which, however, suffers from a certain disturbing vagueness. The proposed law, which is not yet even in draft form, will demand that public administrations and public companies give full information on their accounting, including the awarding of contracts and subsidies; oblige them to answer questions asked by citizens within one month; establish a “pay scale” to control the salaries of mayors and councilors; and set stiff sanctions for officials who fail to comply with their obligations, especially those connected with the handling of public funds.

The plan is now being set before the citizens for two weeks, so they can give their views. This is a law that has long been wanting in Spain, the only major EU country that lacks rules of this type. However, only its later development will show whether the resulting law will be in line with those that exist in the rest of Europe, and in the United States.

For the moment we may note that the Spanish bill has, even in its embryonic form, certain worrying aspects. The first of these is the emphasis placed on the importance of projecting abroad a clear message on Spanish solvency regarding our country’s compliance with its financial commitments. For such an objective, a law requiring a lengthy parliamentary process is hardly necessary. It is enough if those occupying public posts controlled by the Popular Party (PP), an overwhelming majority at all levels of government in Spain, act correctly in the performance of their duties. The harsh sanctions announced for certain forms of conduct call for a number of modifications in the Penal Code, but many others can already be prosecuted in criminal law: all that is necessary is the political will to enforce the law as it now stands.

As far as can be seen, the planned law sets forth no mechanism to determine the quality of the information to be made available to the citizen. Also up in the air is the question of whether an independent public agency will be created to oversee compliance with these new obligations, or to demand simplification in the procedures that the citizen must follow to obtain the information he wants. Nor are any convincing reasons given for leaving the Royal House outside the remit of the Transparency Law.

These are serious gaps in a proposed law that is perceived as crucial to restoring the credibility of Spanish political conduct — a law which the Zapatero government toyed with, but did not venture to push through to a conclusion.

Withal, this initiative of the Rajoy government is a positive first step, which must not be allowed to shrink into an impotent dead letter during the stages that remain before its final enactment. This would constitute a poor service to Spanish democracy, and a very negative move on the part of the PP — a party gravely affected by cases of corruption and bad government, of the very sort that the law is intended to curb.