Conference of Presidents (Spain)

The Conference of Presidents is the highest-level political body for cooperation and the autonomous communities and the Government of Spain. It is at the top of the group of multilateral cooperation bodies. It has no constitutional or statutory basis. It is made up of the Prime Minister of Spain, (known as "president" in Spanish: Presidente), and who presides, the 17 presidents of the autonomous communities and the 2 mayors-president autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. A first meeting under the presidency of Felipe González in 1990 can be considered precedent-setting.

Conference of Preseidents on 17 January 2017

This is a common cooperation body in politically decentralised states. These top-level political meetings, with similar names, are also held in countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Canada. At the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the XXI, it has assumed great importance as a driving force in the development of the so-called cooperative federalism, fundamentally in Germany and Austria.

In all these countries, the Conference of Presidents is institutionalized, either through agreements that regulate aspects relating to the functioning and contents of meetings (in the case of Switzerland or Italy), or through the recognition of a political practice by habit, which is inherent in the cooperative operation of the state (Germany, Austria or Canada).

History

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The creation of the Conference of Presidents was announced by the President of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, in its inaugral meeting and was established on October 28, 2004. Given its nature and political level, its scope of action is open and its purpose is to debate and adopt agreements on matters of special relevance to the autonomous system.

 
Conference of Presidents on October 26, 2020. (Teleconference)

Its functioning is flexible and its decisions are based on the principle of the agreement of the participants, in practice it is a merely consultative body of the Central Government with the autonomous communities and cities.The Conference of Presidents, in its first editions, was held with irregular periodicity, and always at the proposal of the Government of the Nation. Starting with the V Conference of Presidents, held on December 14, 2009, the Government approved a regulation establishing that the conferences would be held on an annual basis, although this was not fulfilled. Thus, Zapatero's first government held meetings on 28 October 2004, 10 September 2005 and 11 January 2007. During Zapatero's second government, only one conference was held, on 14 December 2009. Mariano Rajoy held only one conference during his first term, on 2 October 2012. In January 2017, during his second term, the second conference was held with Rajoy at the helm.

The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez was the one who convened the most conferences, up to twenty between 2020 and 2022, many of them due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact since the seventh conference, most of the meetings held between 2020 and 2021 were teleconferences.[1]

Composition

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Number Date Location Prime Minister Agenda
I 28 October 2004 Palacio del Senado

(Madrid)
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
List
  • He discussed the institutionalisation of the Conference, the development of the participation of the autonomous communities in European Community Affairs and the analysis of the financing of health care.
II 10 Septiembre 2005
List
  • The issue of health care financing was discussed. The total contribution of the Government was initially set at 3,042.4 million euros for 2006 and 3,142.4 million euros for 2007.
III 11 January 2007
List
  • Topics such as Research, Technological Development and Innovation (R&D&I) were discussed in order to adopt a joint document, an agreement was reached for the creation of the Sectoral Conferences on Water and Immigration, and a Working Group was created for the Preparation of the Regulations of the Conference of Presidents.
IV 14 December 2009
List
V 2 October 2012 Mariano Rajoy Brey
List
  • It dealt with Fiscal Stability, Economic and Labor Situation in Spain.
VI 17 January 2017
List
  • Topics discussed included employment policies, the development of the principle of cooperation for the exercise of the powers of the different Administrations in matters of Civil Protection, the National Strategy to Face the Demographic Challenge, the Social and Political Pact for Education, the development and application of the Law to Guarantee the Unity of the Market, Digital Administration and Public Employment, the promotion of the Social Card, mechanisms for the Protection of Vulnerable Consumers of Electric Energy, the sustainability of the Welfare State and Reform of the Financing System and the development of the participation of the autonomous communities in the Affairs of the European Union. In addition, the Regulations of the Conference of Presidents were modified and agreements were reached on the Pact against Gender Violence.
VII 15 March 2020 Extraordinary meetings

by teleconference due to

the COVID-19 pandemic
Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón
List
VIII 22 March 2020
IX 29 March 2020
X 5 April 2020
XI 12 April 2020
XII 19 April 2020
XIII 26 April 2020
XIV 3 May 2020
XV 10 May 2020
XVI 17 May 2020
XVII 24 May 2020
XVIII 31 May 2020
XIX 7 June 2020
XX 14 June 2020
XXI 31 July 2020 Monasterio de Yuso

(San Millán de la Cogolla, La Rioja)
List
  • Its opening was presided over by King Felipe VI of Spain. Matters related to the coronavirus outbreaks and the participation of the autonomous communities in the European recovery fund were discussed.
XXII 4 September 2020 Meeting by teleconference
List
  • The return to the classroom was discussed while the COVID-19 pandemic lasts.[4]
XXIII 26 October 2020
List
  • Conference attended by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The criteria for the distribution of European funds that Spain will receive from the European Recovery Fund were discussed.[5]
XXIV 30 July 2021 Convento de San Esteban

(Salamanca)
List
  • Its opening was presided over by King Philip VI of Spain. The meeting dealt with the management of European funds for recovery and the demographic challenge. [6][7]
XXV 22 December 2021 Meeting by teleconference
List
XXVI 13 March 2022 Museo Arqueológico Benahoarita

(Los Llanos de Aridane, La Palma)
List
  • Celebrated online from the Senate of Spain. It dealt with the advance of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 throughout the country.[9] Finalmente se celebró el 13 de marzo en Los Llanos de Aridane, municipio de la isla de La Palma, unos meses después del fin de la erupción volcánica en Cumbre Vieja.[10] La apertura fue presidida por el Rey y se trató la acogida de refugiados ucranianos, asuntos económicos y energéticos y gestión de fondos europeos.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Los entresijos de la conferencia de presidentes". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 2020-10-25. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  2. ^ "La Moncloa. 24/07/2020. Pedro Sánchez preside la reunión del Comité de Seguimiento del COVID-19 [Multimedia/Galerías fotográficas/Presidente]". www.lamoncloa.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  3. ^ Press, Europa (14 June 2020). "Arranca la 14 Conferencia de Presidentes de Sánchez con CCAA, que coincide con el tercer mes en estado alarma". www.europapress.es. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Sánchez reúne la Conferencia de Presidentes". abc (in Spanish). 4 September 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Pedro Sánchez se reúne con los líderes autonómicos en una Conferencia de Presidentes marcada por el estado de alarma". EXPANSION (in Spanish). 2020-10-25. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  6. ^ "Sánchez anuncia 3,4 millones de vacunas adicionales en agosto para desactivar las protestas del PP". El País. 30 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Ayuso lidera el frente del PP con las críticas más duras a la gestión "desleal" de Sánchez". El País. 30 July 2021.
  8. ^ elDiario.es (2021-12-18). "Sánchez convoca una Conferencia de Presidentes para abordar el estallido de la sexta ola". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  9. ^ Press, Europa (2022-02-24). "El Gobierno cancela la Conferencia de Presidentes por la crisis de Ucrania". www.europapress.es. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  10. ^ "La Moncloa. 04/02/2022. Pedro Sánchez convoca la XXVI Conferencia de Presidentes el 25 de febrero en La Palma [Presidente/Destacados]". www.lamoncloa.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  11. ^ "Arranca en La Palma la 26ª Conferencia de Presidentes". Canarias7 (in Spanish). 2022-03-13. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
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