In April 2023, we discussed here the year-long delay in receiving subsidies for installing solar panels. Ten days ago, 3Cat reported that heavy goods vehicles have been sitting idle for more than three months awaiting the permits required to drive. And last Friday, TV3 reported that a total of 5,153 people died in Catalonia in 2025 while going through the process of applying for dependency benefits. The process for recognizing a case takes an average of eight months, from the initial assessment of the degree of dependency to the resolution of the Individual Care Program, which determines the corresponding benefit or service. And if you look back, you'll find the same news from previous years: "People die every hour, people die every day..." It's pathetic.

The legal framework governing the working conditions of civil servants in Catalonia is over 25 years old, and the Catalan government believes it is time to update it. The executive council will approve the draft public employment law next Tuesday. Its aim is to redefine access to the public sector, encourage young people to pursue careers in public administration to address generational change, and reform career advancement opportunities within the civil service. The law, which will subsequently enter parliamentary proceedings, affects nearly 400,000 workers: employees of the Catalan government, the 947 municipalities in Catalonia, and the seven Catalan public universities. According to the Presidency department, the legislation has been developed with "maximum consensus" and falls within the framework of... major administrative reform project that the Catalan executive has underway.

After launching a new website and introduce videoconference consultationThe Catalan government continues to make progress in reforming its administration. Now it's the turn of online procedures. Before summer, the government will definitively say goodbye to the PDFs that, until recently, were required to complete online applications. The goal is for the new forms to be "100% accessible" from any device, which will require updating the format of up to 1,550 procedures. The Catalan government has already passed the halfway point in this process, with 900 procedures already adapted, and expects to complete the remaining 650 by June. The update cost a total of 4.3 million euros.

Starting this Sunday, any Catalan citizen can register as a civil partner, apply for a hunting license, or request a disability card via videoconference. These are just some of the 27 procedures that can now be carried out remotely with the assistance of an agent, without needing to visit the Generalitat offices in person. Users can access these services from home through the new Virtual Office launched by the Catalan Government. within the framework of the administration reform to bring it closer to the public and make it more efficient.

Major changes are coming to the administration of the Generalitat. The 50 proposals from the Cetra expert group are on the tableThe government is still drafting the laws that will shape the transformation of the public sector in the coming years. The changes include everything from... simplification of administrative procedures From the incorporation of AI, through changes to competitive examinations and the end of politically appointed public managers with the introduction of competitive selection processes and protections against arbitrary dismissals, the reforms have been extensive. But what do representatives of public sector workers think?

There's no freedom without risk. This very thought was floating around in my head when I got a letter, and it was a fine. A fine is always bad, no matter how well deserved, but lately I'd say it's worse. Driving through another city, I took the wrong street and apparently entered a street where traffic was prohibited. Until now, I haven't been able to tell. Why didn't I see it? Perhaps it was poorly signposted? It doesn't matter, because the fine works through blackmail: if I pay quickly and refuse to protest, they'll give me a 50% discount. Since traveling is complicated and they probably wouldn't agree with me, they encourage me to pay and keep quiet. It's not very edifying.

When fire shows its destructive power near a house or crops that are the result of the efforts of many generations rooted in that land, it is impossible not to be moved. It would be utterly insensitive to tell them that it is only a spark of what is happening on the planet.

Why should the public administration continue to award contracts as if only price mattered, when it could do so based on criteria that also improve people's lives?

One of the flagship projects of Salvador Illa's government is the reform of the administration, which he commissioned from a group of experts led by political science professor Carles Ramió. He has already put some changes on the table, such as the "right to error" for both citizens and civil servants to combat gridlock. It has dragged on for legislature after legislature and no government until now has been able to implement: the regulation of the professional public manager, which involves putting an end to the discretion with which the parties now choose the people who occupy the general directorships and deputy directorships of the government of the Generalitat. In other words, a reform to put an end to the election of politicians and the

If a person makes a mistake before the administration, they will have the right to rectify it as long as it was committed "not fraudulently." This right has also been extended to citizens. In this way, if a person proves they have made an unintentional error, they will be able to rectify it and avoid sanctions. Public sanctions will only apply to actions or omissions "carried out with grief, guilt, or gross negligence." The administration, therefore, will not punish officials who have acted with "due diligence, in good faith, and without fraud." They will not be able to claim benefits "linked to essential subsistence needs" that have been granted in error to "avoid harming citizens who are part of vulnerable groups." claim for thousands of euros for undue payments of social benefitsA few months ago, the Government approved an amnesty for beneficiaries of the guaranteed income and now it is pending. What to do with the hundreds of young people who have been ex-warded They have received a letter requesting the return of part of the aid, for which the Ministry of Social Rights has already apologized.

UPF political science professor Carles Ramió, president of the expert committee for public administration reform (CETRA), speaks to ARA to explain the changes the government has pledged to promote.

The Catalan government commissioned a group of experts led by professor of political science and administration Carles Ramió to draft a proposal for public administration reform, a promise that various executives have embraced but that has never been realized with the necessary ambition and capacity for transformation. Well, Ramió's group has developed ten concrete proposals that, if implemented, would represent a true revolution in the public sector, changing everything from the way we work to the selection processes for civil servants and, above all, for the executives who are currently handpicked by political appointees.

At the beginning of its term, Salvador Illa's government set the goal of reforming public administration as its legislative objective. To this end, it has a group of experts (CETRA), led by professor of political science and public administration Carles Ramió, who has proposed up to ten measures for implementation. The most notable are: a reform to professionalize public administration; introducing artificial intelligence into the functioning of the Generalitat; changing the selection of civil servants; and ensuring that the administration is proactive in providing aid. "We are aware that we must combat skepticism from society, the media, and public servants themselves," Ramió admitted in statements to the press, since administrative reform is an issue that governments always have on their agenda and is never implemented. Below are the first ten measures the executive will work on, although some have not specified deadlines, such as the depoliticization of public administration, which remains in the hands of the government's schedule and the support of the other political parties.

The digital DNI will begin to take shape this Wednesday. The Official State Gazette (BOE) will publish the decree regulating its "issuance, management, and development process" so that it can be installed on mobile phones. The launch of the digital ID card was approved this Tuesday by the Council of Ministers and will coexist with the physical DNI, although the Spanish government's intention is to extend its use "universally," according to sources from the National Police.

The announcement of the brand new Minister of Public Function, María Jesús Montero, that public sector workers who have been on temporary contracts for over ten years ten years would be given a permanent post without having to take an exam has created doubts on its constitutionality. The measure, which was negotiated with ERC, has surprised Pepe Álvarez, secretary general of Union UGT, who has questioned whether the proposal is in line with the Constitution.