Madrid, October 2, 2024.- The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Service, Óscar López, and the President of the Council of State, Carmen Calvo, participated in the signing of a protocol between the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP) and the Council of State. The two institutions thus strengthen their collaboration and extend it to the organization of joint workshops and seminars on public management that can be submitted to the Council of State for consultation.

“Cooperation between administrations is essential to face these difficult and changing times and only with a good capacity to respond will we achieve the confidence of the citizens,” said the minister. Óscar López has highlighted the reforms that Spain is promoting to improve its democracy, such as the Democratic Regeneration Plan. “An initiative that helps us consolidate the international leadership we are building,” he added.

For her part, Carmen Calvo stressed that “today we take another step to do better in the Public Administration”. “We are committed to improving the regulatory quality of our legislative production”, which means “to elaborate fewer rules, rules that are truly useful and with a simple and understandable language for citizens”, he said. Finally, he wanted to emphasize that the proper functioning of the Public Administration “is a guarantee for our democratic system”.

Minister López has taken the opportunity to announce that the United Nations has just placed Spain in the world’s top 20 countries with a more developed digital administration. Only six other countries of the European Union are included in this list. As recognized by the United Nations, Spain is knowing how to use technology to improve governance and the provision of public services. “And this affects the day-to-day lives of citizens and companies, who can save time and money by making their basic arrangements with the Administration. Thus, in Spain 84% of these procedures can be done online, almost five points above the European average. In the case of companies, that percentage rises to 91%, six points above the European average,” he said.

Key points of the agreement

INAP, as an entity that trains and promotes innovation in the Administration, and the Council of State, as an advisory body on the legal system and proper administrative functioning, share the mission of promoting good public governance.

Both institutions undertake to promote the joint organization of training activities on matters of public management submitted to the Council for consultation, such as regulatory improvement, administrative contracting, State patrimonial responsibility or the review of administrative acts. The collaboration between the two signatories will be extended to international missions and projects, and also the commitment to the dissemination of research work. A joint monitoring committee will ensure that these objectives are met. These activities will involve lawyers from the Council of State and officials from ministries concerned with the matters to be dealt with.

In this regard, Council employees will be incorporated into the working groups of the INAP Public Innovation Laboratory.

During 2023, 80,000 people were trained at the INAP, within the framework of the First Learning Strategy 2023-2024, in mainly transversal subjects: transparency, open governments, information and communication technologies, languages, ethics, innovation, public procurement, etc. The institute is also a reference in the training of management personnel, as evidenced by the launch of the School of High Public Management of the State.