Congress has frozen 25 urgent laws, most for two and three years

Six months after the dissolution of the Cortes, the deadlines continue to be extended week after week

MADRID, 30 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Congress keeps 'frozen' a total of 25 laws from decree laws approved by the Government and which, after being validated, the groups forced to be processed as bills in order to introduce changes. Despite the fact that all of them are formally processed by the emergency procedure, five of them have been hibernating since 2020, a dozen since 2021 and as many since 2022. And all six months after the dissolution of the Chamber.

All of them remain in the drawer of the paralyzed initiatives because the Congress Table, where the PSOE and Unidas Podemos have a majority against PP and Vox, does not end the deadlines for the presentation of amendments.

A large part of the decree laws converted into bills that are pending contain urgent support measures for different sectors launched due to the pandemic, including the so-called 'social shield' and its extensions. All of them are in force because they were validated at the time, but it remains to be seen if the groups will finally be able to modify them.

The longest-lived already accumulates 34 months of 'forgotten' oblivion. This is a bill from July 2020 with measures to deal with the impact of Covid in the transport and hospitality sector.

Two and a half years of stoppage add up to another four decrees transformed into bills aimed at supporting tourism and commerce, coping with situations of social vulnerability in terms of housing and transportation, modernizing the Public Administration or activating instruments for adaptation to the Brexit.

The decrees that have been stranded since 2021 deal with social measures in defense of employment, reduction of the gender gap, support for companies and the self-employed due to Covid, other social measures due to the pandemic, the transposition of European directives on various topics, the reform of capital gains tax, the promotion of electric mobility and self-consumption and even one of the extensions of the state of alarm.

In force since 2022, but waiting to be modified in Congress, there are ten other decrees. For a year and a half, the term to register amendments to the one that modifies matters related to investment services and asset management of bank restructuring has been extended.

The one that contains urgent measures to support the agricultural sector due to the drought, has already spent 14 months sleeping the sleep of the just, as well as the one with urgent measures to alleviate the social and economic consequences of the war in Ukraine, some of which have disappeared. extending in subsequent decrees that in turn are in the same 'stand by' situation.

This package from last year also includes a decree with special measures for La Palma after the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja Volcano, the one that sets the new contribution for the self-employed, the one related to the improvement of conditions for domestic workers and another that includes measures for consumers of natural gas, remuneration of public employees and even protection for farmers due to drought.

The decree laws converted this year into bills that have not yet started their effective processing in the Lower House deal with incentives for hiring and improving the social protection of artists and the pension reform.

To these 25 urgent laws that are hibernating in the Chamber, we must add another that is also processed by the abbreviated procedure but that does not originate in a decree-law. This is the bill on Cinema and audiovisual culture that the Plenary agreed to discuss last January.

In addition, there are four other laws that have not been considered urgent and that have not just started their processing either. The oldest is the National Security bill, which has accumulated extensions to present partial amendments for 15 months.

In this situation, the project that transposes European directives to combat fraud and counterfeiting of means of payment is now one year old. In June it will be the one that seeks to consolidate equity and universality in the National Health System and eight months hibernating carries the law for the digital efficiency of the public service of Justice.