Civil society returns to pressure so that the reform of the administration opens its way in Catalonia

BarcelonaThe reform of the administration has made its way in Catalonia. Or so it is seen by the more than 200 entities and business associations that are part of the Forum of Entities for the Reform of the Administration (FERA), an organization established about two years ago to demand reforms in the public sector. The processing of the bill for professional executives in the public sector –a regulation that is part of this process, approved in July by Salvador Illa's government– overcame the obstacle last Friday in a parliamentary committee, where ERC, Comuns, and the PP presented amendments to the entirety. Junts avoided proposing one, and in this way, the vote will be reached next month in Parliament with the possibility that the regulation will continue on its path.

In fact, FERA plans to issue a statement in which it will insist that the text be allowed to be processed, according to knowledgeable sources. Last week, this organization already made an appeal to prevent a majority of amendments to the entirety from causing the bill to collapse.

Then they stated that, without going into the content of the Government's proposal, it was necessary to allow its processing so that the parties and entities involved could later have their say. The FERA reminds that all parties defend the reform of the administration and highlight that it would not be understood if some avoided being able to start the discussion of a regulation aimed at modernizing the administration.

The goal of the FERA is also to try to convince some of the groups that have presented an amendment to the entirety to the institutional affairs committee not to present one in the next vote and they hope that Junts does not hinder the processing either and continues with its attitude until now. This committee admits them for processing and refers them to the plenary session for the debate on the entirety. At this point, if any amendment to the entirety prospers, the bill falls, which is what the FERA wants to avoid.

About 700 high-ranking officials

FERA applauded the Government's approval of the bill not because it agreed with all its content, but because it meant the beginning of the professionalization process for public managers of the Generalitat and, therefore, an important step in the reform of the Catalan administration. The regulation, as currently drafted, would affect more than 700 people in high-ranking positions, including general directors and deputy general directors, out of the more than 260,000 public employees the Generalitat has.

The text provides, for example, for selection processes for these positions "based on objective criteria of merit, capacity, and suitability; the evaluation and accountability of management personnel such that their tenure in management positions will depend on meeting the objectives established in management agreements, guaranteeing continuous monitoring and periodic evaluation of their performance".

FERA includes entities such as the Catalan Association of Public Management (ACGP), the Catalan Association of Professionals, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Vallès business association Cecot, the Catalan associations of Economists, Industrial Engineers, and Political Science and Sociology Professionals, the Esade Alumni Public Management Club, the business entity FemCat, or the Third Social Sector Board. It is defined as "a meeting space for Catalan civil society entities that defend the need to address, in a constructive and demanding way, the long-demanded reform of the public administration, which in the country's current economic, social, and political context is essential and urgent".