SPANISH PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET INSTITUTIONS

Second Annual Meeting of the OECD-Parliamentary Budget Officials, Bern, February 11-12, 2010

Carmen Gutiérrez

Public Finances and Economic Research Section Congress of Deputies, Spain

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Outline of the presentation:

I SPANISH PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

II BUDGET PROCESS: APPROVAL AND FOLLOW UP

III BUDGETARY INSTITUTION IN THE CONGRESS: – Committees dealing with public expenditure/ income

– Congress Budget Office

– Research Division

IV CONCLUSION

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I SPANISH PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM A Bicameral system

• Congress of Deputies:

– 350 MPs – Parliamentary Groups (PGs) – Capacity: to vote down and amend the SBB

• Senate: – 263 Senators (207 elected + 56 elected by AARR) – Parliamentary Groups (PGs) – Capacity to vote down and amend the SBB

…………..BUT CONGRESS HAS THE LAST WORD ON

APPROVAL

• PGs: play an important role in Budget procedure

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II BUDGET PROCESS: APPROVAL AND

FOLLOW UP Annual Budget Cycle

• Medium term Budgetary Stability Objective (MTBSO) and State Expenditure Ceiling: (June)

– Legal framework: GLBS, 2001 and 2006

• STATE BUDGET BILL: (Sep-Dec.) – Rebalancing of Financial Plan for the General State

Administration

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II BUDGET PROCESS: APPROVAL AND

FOLLOW UP Spanish Budget Process

• Approval SBB

• Follow up SBB:

– In-year reporting

– After fiscal year

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II BUDGET PROCESS: APPROVAL AND

FOLLOW UP State Budget Bill- scope and content

• State sector scope: – General State Administration (Ministries), Constitutional

bodies (The Royal Household, Parliament, Court of Accounts, Judicial Power), Autonomous bodies, Semi-commercial Public entities and Agencies

– Social Security

• General content: - Income Estimates - Expenditure: 3 classifications: organization, programmes

and economic (current, capital, financial) -Tax expenditures

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II BUDGET PROCESS: APPROVAL AND FOLLOW UP

State Budget Bill: Deliberation- Approval 1. Government submits the SBB to Congress

2. Congress:

• Hearing in Committees • Debate in Plenary session: amendments to whole bill • Budget Committee: amendments to sections/partial

• Sub-committee • Deliberation in Committee

• Deliberation in Plenary session

3. Senate: same as in the Congress (Veto)

4. Congress: final approval in Plenary session

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II BUDGET PROCESS: APPROVAL AND

FOLLOW UP

• Two Committees dealing with Budgetary control:

– Congress Budget Committee: four-month hearings of the Secretary of State for Finance and Budget

– Joint Committee of Congress and Senate for Relations with the Court of Accounts: “ex post control”

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III BUDGETARY INSTITUTIONS IN THE CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES

Non partisan technical institutions

• Secretariat of Committees dealing with Budget issues

• The Congress of Deputies Budget Office

• The Research Division

PGs experts/ partisan

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III BUDGETARY INSTITUTIONS IN THE

CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES Secretariat of Committees

• Role

• Staff

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III BUDGETARY INSTITUTIONS IN THE CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES

Congress Budget Office

• Created in June 1990

• Main role and functions

• Still to be decided: mission, organization and staff

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III BUDGETARY INSTITUTIONS IN THE CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES

The Research Division

• Four Sections:

Law studies,

EU studies,

Publications

Public Finances and Economic Research

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III BUDGETARY INSTITUTIONS IN THE

CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES Public Finances-Economic Research Section

• Organization and staffing:

– Appointments

– 9 staff members (theoretically)

– Two main areas of activity: budget and economic research and technical advice

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III BUDGETARY INSTITUTIONS IN THE

CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES Public Finances-Economic Research Section

• Activities regarding the Budget: – technical verification of amendments

– general advice on budgets

– reply to queries (MPs, staff of PGs)

– calculation of the amendments approved

– briefing of Budgetary execution

– comparative reports on macroeconomic forecast

– other reports

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IV CONCLUSION

• WE NEED MORE SPECIALISTS TO:

– TO MAKE IMPARTIAL ASSESSMENTS

– TO IMPROVE THE CAPACITY TO PROCESS AND ANALYZE BUDGETARY INFORMATION (see appendix 1)

– TO REVIEW BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS

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Appendix 1

Additional documents attached to the State Budget Bill (GBL, 47/2003, Section 37.2),

OECD Journal on Budgeting, Vol. 4, Nª 3, 2004, pag.391 • Reports on spending programmes and annual objectives

• Report on each budget allocation and main modification compared with the current Budget

• Annex with a financial breakdown by spending management centres • Annex with medium term of public investment classified by AARR • Accounts and balances of the previous year’s budgets and forecast of

the current year • Accounts and balances of the Social Security system of the previous

year • Consolidated financial statement of the Budget • An economic and financial report • Report on tax expenditures You can find it at: http://www.sgpg.pap.meh.es/sitios/sgpg/es-ES/Presupuestos/Paginas/pge2010.aspx

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Glossary:

• AACC: Autonomous Communities

• MTBSO: Medium Term Budgetary Stability Objective

• PGs: Parliamentary Groups

• SBB: State Budget Bill

• SOCD: Standing Orders of the Congress of Deputies

• GLBS: General Law on Budgetary Stability

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

Disclaimer: This is not an official statement by the Congress of Deputies. For use only at the meeting of the OECD PBO, Bern, 11-12, February 2010.