The Spanish Justice Commission this week gave the green light to plans for Spain to invite foreign ministers to sit in on its cabinet meetings as guests.
This stems from a provision included in a previous bilateral treaty signed with France that is yet to be implemented because legal amendments were required in order to do so.
In January 2023 the governments of Spain and France met at a bilateral summit in Barcelona and signed the ‘Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation’ which included, among other points, plans for “a member of the government of one of the parties will be invited to the Council of Ministers of the other party at least once every three months and in rotation.”
However, the proposal soon rang into legal snags and it appeared wording could derail the plans to allow French ministers to periodically sit in on Spanish cabinet meetings.
The Foreign Ministry first pointed out that the treaty “appears to conflict with the Government Law, which establishes the composition of the Council of Ministers in a predetermined manner.”
La Moncloa government checked with the Council of State, which in May 2023 ruled that the provision in the treaty agreement required some legislative changes in order for it to be implemented.
As such, by taking advantage of the processing of the Parity Law, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and coalition partners Sumar registered an amendment to modify Article 5.2 of the Government Law, adding the current wording to establish that “the meetings of the Council of Ministers may be attended by the Secretaries of State and, exceptionally, other senior officials, when they are called to do so."
Crucially it added the phrase: “without prejudice to the provisions of international treaties validly concluded by Spain.”
The slight changes have now been approved by the commission and it only needs ratifying in the house itself, something expected in the coming weeks.
In theory, this could open up the possibility of Ministers from other countries to attend Spanish cabinet meetings in the future.
For now, it seems likely it will only be with the French if the proposal is passed.
The exchange of ministers is intended to be a way of improving ties between the two neighbouring countries and a way sharing expertise and insight.
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