The Diplomat
The Congress approved a total of 43 laws over the course of 2020, 28 of which (65%) were derived from the application of rules laid down by the institutions of the European Union.
According to the European Parliament’s representation in Spain, a total of 28 laws (22 royal decrees, five national laws and one organic law) approved by the Lower House between January and December 2020, the first year of the 14th Spanish legislature, “derive, in one way or another, from decisions taken in Brussels”.
Of these 28 laws, seven transpose European directives into Spanish law and another 21 contain references to Community recommendations, programmes or initiatives. Specifically, the transpositions relate to aspects such as greenhouse gas emissions trading, procurement by entities in the water, energy, transport and postal services sector, insurance contracts, pension funds and employment, harmonisation of VAT and the framework for resolving tax disputes in the EU, common rules for the internal market in electricity, renewable energy and energy efficiency, work in fisheries, the internal market in natural gas and the use of passenger data for the prevention of terrorist offences.
The remaining 21 pieces of legislation approved derive from recommendations, guidelines, programmes or initiatives emanating from the Council, Commission or European Parliament or from other Community institutions. These legislative initiatives regulate aspects mainly related to the consequences derived from the COVID-19 pandemic – measures for economic, social and cultural reactivation, transport, housing and teleworking -, although they also refer to other matters, such as objective dismissal for lack of assistance, agriculture and food, the minimum vital income, the Bankruptcy Law, digital services or financial transactions.
“These figures are tangible proof that European and national policies are closely interrelated and, sooner or later, everything that is decided in Brussels has practical consequences for the daily lives of Spaniards”, said Jaume Duch, spokesperson for the European Parliament. “The work of the national parliaments or many of the decisions taken by the different governments can no longer be understood without the work of the European Parliament and the other EU institutions”, he continued. “This trend has increased with the crisis caused by the pandemic, given that most of the measures to deal with its health, economic and social consequences have originated in Brussels”, he added.
