The Impact of Economic Liberalisation on Spanish Public Administration: Some Alarming Steps Backward

Abstract

Economic liberalisation has an impact on the economic activity of States and on the balance between government intervention and free markets. The old national service monopolies now have to be reconciled with basic EU economic freedoms. The introduction of new regulatory techniques requires a different kind of administrative body to govern utilities. National Regulatory Agencies have been set up to guarantee that regulation is exercised on an equal basis, without discrimination in favour of the incumbents from the monopoly era. The results and achievements of liberalisation are to some extent dependent on the administrative context. In many cases, European norms stipulate particular procedures for the organisation of public administration. States are no longer free to implement EU legislation in accordance with the paradigm of institutional autonomy: independent regulatory authorities are imposed as a cornerstone of liberalisation. In this paper we analyse three recent examples in which Spain allegedly failed to fulfil its obligations as a EU member State, and contend that Spain’s current legislative reforms are at odds with European requirements.