Less than 10% of MPs and Senators have reported during 2022 on the meetings they have held or may hold with lobbies or interest groups in the Cortes Generales, although they are required to do so. Of the remaining 90%, it is not possible to know if they held a meeting of this type because they did not report it. This is confirmed by the annual report responsible for monitoring the level of compliance of elected officials with the Code of Conduct. This text obliges parliamentarians in Article 6.2 to “publish their institutional agenda on the relevant transparency portal, including in any case the meetings held with the representatives of each body having interest group status”. The report collects data from January 1 to December 31, 2022, two months before the so-called Mediator case broke out that led to the resignation of Socialist MP Juan Bernardo Fuentes Curbelo, nicknamed Tito Berni, on February 14 this year. , suspected ringleader of a conspiracy that would have operated from his office in Congress.
According to the Code of Ethics, interest groups are “those natural or legal persons or unincorporated entities” that communicate, either directly or indirectly, with public or elected officials to “exert pressure on behalf of private, public, individuals or groups”. to change or influence issues related to the drafting or amendment of legislative initiatives”. The text defines the term lobby broadly, as there is still no specific legislation in Spain that regulates the matter. The efforts of the parliamentary groups have so far not borne fruit, so the reform of the relationship between MPs and interest groups has been on the back burner for 21 months due to a lack of understanding.
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The report, prepared by the Interests Office of the Cortes Generales and ratified by both the Congress Council and the Senate, confirms that the majority of elected officials make public only the sessions that affect their parliamentary activity (full sessions, committees, subcommittees, presentations) . , table, speaker meetings…) but not the meetings they have held or may hold with lobbies. In his recommendations section, he warns that this fact is “a clear point for improvement” and reminds congressmen that they have an obligation to do so.
The Code of Conduct was approved unanimously by all parties represented in the Senate and Congress on October 1, 2020, with the exception of Vox, which voted against. It obliges members of parliament and senators to adhere to a set of rules so that their activities become more transparent and controllable. In addition to the obligation to publish the agenda, the parliamentarians must report on their economic situation.
In this regard, the report notes that “2022 was generally a good year” as all Congressmen and Senators fulfilled their obligation to make public their economic, financial and property situation – only one Congressman and one Senator failed to do so fulfilled this mandate because they took office at the end of 2022.
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But even in this section, MPs are advised to be “as specific as possible” about donations, gifts, presents, travel and hospitality they receive in the performance of their duties. It also urges its Honorable Members to avoid “standard responses” and “pre-written general responses” in their declarations of economic interest. The report insists that MPs’ work activity be as clear as possible five years before their election, one of the innovations included in the code when it was adopted in 2020, with the aim of exercising better control over potential conflicts of interest.
The report also highlights that in 2022 there has been no knowledge or information of possible violations “about” the complaint by the Socialist Group in the Senate against the senator and mayor of Marbella (Málaga), the popular Ángeles Muñoz, at the opening of a special Proceeding by the House of Lords Inconsistency Commission. This body must determine whether Muñoz correctly complied with the established norms or, as the PSOE claims, hid part of his assets from the institution.