Government steps up protection of minors

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The Council of Ministers approved Draft Laws and a Constitutional Law to amend the system to protect young children and adolescents, for submission to Parliament. This legislative reform responds to the government's commitment to speed up foster care and adoption proceedings, improve the protection and care of minors throughout the country, and prevent, detect and better attend to child abuse. This was the summary presented by the Vice-President of the Government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, and the Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality, Alfonso Alonso.

The minister highlighted that the reform "makes Spain the first country in the world to incorporate the defence of the best interests of the child as a principle, in accordance with United Nations recommendations". The Vice-President of the Government added that "for the first time, situations of risk and distress are defined in national legislation".

The two ministers pointed out that there are almost 35,000 minors in Spain under guardianship or wards of the State. Of this number, 21,600 are in foster care and 13,400 in residential care. The aim of the reform is for all minors under the age of three to be in foster care without first having to pass through a care centre.

Rights, duties and care for vulnerable groups

Alfonso Alonso explained that this legislation establishes a new framework of rights and duties of minors. Hence, children can take part and be entitled to "be heard in all proceedings that affect them". Their duties affect family, school and social environments.

The minister highlighted that protection for the most vulnerable groups is strengthened, such as foreign minors in Spain, particularly those who are unaccompanied or victims of trafficking. The reform expressly acknowledges "the right to healthcare, education and social services under equality of conditions with other Spaniards".

Protection for young children

The reform establishes a new system to protect young children and defines national legislation on situations of risk and distress. Risk situations derive from family conflicts or social deprivation that prejudice the minor. Situations of distress are determined by abandonment, risk to life, health or physical integrity; or through being induced to beg, resort to delinquency or prostitution.

Pool MoncloaThe minister clarified that "the draft law clearly establishes that the economic situation of the family can never be grounds to declare a situation of distress". Alfonso Alonso stated that should this situation arise, the main aim is "to maintain the minor with the family of origin, but should this not be possible, to seek the best family for that child".

Based on that premise, the future legislation determines three types of family care: emergency, temporary and permanent. Emergency care is devised for those under the age of six and cannot last more than six months. Temporary care shall have a maximum duration of two years and will be used when circumstances dictate that the minor will be able to return to his or her family of origin or is in the process of adoption. Permanent care arises when it is not possible to resort to family reintegration or, in certain circumstances, when this is the only alternative to adoption.

On another note and for the first time, the text regulates protection centres for minors with behavioural problems and speeds up national adoption processes. It also introduces new figures such as open adoption, whereby the adopted child continues to maintain some form of relationship with his or her biological family. "The future legislation seeks to guarantee that all children are entitled to be aware of their origins and that public authorities are obliged to make this information available to them", said the minister.

Fight against violence

The reform has a cross-cutting aim of preventing and stepping up the fight against violence in childhood. Alfonso Alonso asserted that, "for the first time, minors can be acknowledged as victims of gender-based violence". In this regard, the obligation is established on judges to rule on interim measures for children of women who are victims of violence and provides for these children to remain with their mothers.

Both the minister and the Vice-President of the Government insisted that the new legislation steps up protection for those suffering from sexual abuse. Professionals that are in regular contact with children will have to present a certificate showing they have no criminal record as a mandatory pre-requisite.

On another note, the Law on the Protection of Large Families is amended so that this status is not lost when at least one of the children is under the age of 21 or 26 if studying.

Solvency of insurance companies

Pool MoncloaThe Council of Ministers submitted to Parliament the Draft Law on the Organisation, Supervision and Solvency of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies.

According to Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the aim is "to build a new scheme" to guarantee the solvency of the sector. Furthermore, the new legislation transposes the European directive that seeks to create an internal market that is sound, competitive and transparent in this sector.

The Vice-President of the Government highlighted that the new features of this draft law include establishing a new methodology to "minimise possibilities of insolvency, particularly in adverse economic scenarios":

The text regulates the corporate governance of these companies in line with other reforms approved during this term of office, pointed out Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría. "This constitutes a constant pillar of our actions to help strengthen, provide greater transparency and improve the professionalism and reputation of corporate management", she asserted.

Moreover, improvements are introduced in terms of sector supervision and the possibility is established for public servants working for the Directorate General of Insurance and Pension Funds to take out an insurance policy without identifying themselves as such, "in order to ascertain whether companies are really treating and informing their customers as they should", explained the Vice-President of the Government.

Electrical and electronic waste collection and management

Pool MoncloaAnother of the main agreements reached at the Council of Ministers is the implementation of a new waste management model for electrical and electronic devices. Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría recalled that this waste is increasingly abundant and contains valuable materials which are appropriate for re-use, as well as dangerous substances that should be suitably treated. The annual cost associated with this management process exceeds 300 million euros a year in Spain.

The royal decree approved on Friday seeks "to improve the control of the collection and management of this waste and increase collection levels to meet the targets set by the European Union", pointed out the Vice-President of the Government. The target for 2015 is to reach 4 kilos of separate collection per inhabitant compared with the most recent figure available of 3.4 kilos per inhabitant in 2012.

In addition to creating an electronic data platform and a collection assignment office, the new legislation clarifies the obligations on manufacturers, distributors and management companies. The Vice-President of the Government underlined that, for the first time, abandoning this waste on the public highway is expressly prohibited.

As regards shops, when a consumer purchases a new device, he may return a similar old device free of charge in the following period of 30 days. Shops with a surface area greater than 400 square metres must have a collection point for small devices, such as mobile phones and transistor radios, without the consumer having to purchase a new device. Online vendors must guarantee that purchasers can hand over waste in the same way as at physical shops.

Other agreements

The government ratified the authorisation of a partnership agreement between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Competition, the Regional Government of Catalonia and the Technical University of Catalonia [Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña] for the creation, construction, fitting-out and operation of the National Supercomputing Centre - the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. The Ministry of Economic Affairs will fund this centre with close on six million euros this year.

Under the heading of appointments, the Council of Ministers appointed Antonio Sanz Cabello, a graduate in law and currently the Assistant Spokesperson for the People's Group in the Regional Parliament of Andalusia as Government Delegate for Andalusia.

Current affairs

Pool MoncloaIn response to a request from journalists, the Vice-President of the Government announced that in the Debate on the State of the Nation next week, the President of the Government will take stock of 2014 and of the three years already elapsed under the current legislature. Furthermore, given that there are still some months of work ahead, issues will be tackled such as increasing job creation and employability, the government's social agenda, structural reforms designed to improve competitiveness and measures to drive democratic regeneration.

On the occasion of the President of the Government's stay in Catalonia after attending the inauguration of the high voltage interconnection between Spain and France, the Vice-President of the Government stressed that "we arrive in Catalonia with a proven track-record" as evidenced by the commitment to infrastructures such as these, "which are important for Catalonia, for Spain and for the European Union".

As regards the government's position regarding the petition presented by the Greek Government to the European Union, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría stated that Friday's Eurogroup meeting will be "important for clarifying the Greek position", and reiterated that the Spanish position "is the one maintained thus far". "The EU", she added, "is a system in which commitments are assumed and we would ask that they are all respected".

When asked about the Venezuelan Government's actions in relation to the arrest of the leader of the opposition and regarding the recommendations for Spanish companies, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría confirmed that Spain is closely monitoring the situation because "we consider the whole population as a sister nation", and placed special emphasis on the fact that Spain, a democratic country that respects political plurality, asks for its democratic system to be respected. There is a "red line when it comes to respecting our rights and freedoms", she concluded.

The Minister for Health announced that it is likely that the future plan to combat Hepatitis C will identify a higher number of patients liable to receive the new treatments than initially expected, and stressed that decisions will be taken with "scientific criteria" such that "it will be doctors who prescribe these".