Eduardo González
Yesterday, the Council of Ministers approved the referral to the Cortes Generales (Spanish Parliament) of the Framework Agreement to Promote the Circulation of Talent in the Ibero-American Space, while authorizing the expression of Spain’s consent to be bound by it.
This is the second referral of this agreement to Parliament. The previous one took place at the beginning of June, but the initiative could not go ahead due to the dissolution of the two Chambers due to the advance of the general elections.
The text was signed on April 21, 2021 in Soldeu (Andorra), coinciding with the celebration of the XXVII Ibero-American Summit, by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, and her counterparts from Guatemala, Portugal and the Dominican Republic, in person, and from Brazil, Colombia and Nicaragua, electronically. El Salvador joined the firm five days later.
The agreement is a binding document that aims to create a legal framework to “promote the temporary movement through the territory of the member states of the Ibero-American community of the people included in its scope of application, in order to favor the transfer of the knowledge, scientific and intellectual creation and innovation.”
The provisions of these agreements are compatible with the right of each State party to establish quotas or volumes of admission of foreigners. According to the Government, the agreement will not imply any new budgetary obligations for Spain. The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration will be the liaison body for the Agreement.
The creation of a framework agreement on this matter was included, at Spain’s initiative, in the Declaration of the XXIV Ibero-American Summit, held in 2014 in Veracruz (Mexico) and in which the Ibero-American leaders urged the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) to study its feasibility.
At the XXVI Ibero-American Summit, held in 2018 in La Antigua (Guatemala), the Ibero-American countries took note of the Framework Agreement proposal and instructed the SEGIB to convene a specific meeting of the competent authorities to advance in the negotiation of the said framework agreement. Finally, at the Andorra Summit, a final text adapted to the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic was presented for signature.
