Likewise, and at the proposal of the ministries of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Equality and for the Ecological Transition, the Council of Ministers has approved a Royal Decree establishing the COP25 Organizing Committee, for planning, organization and Execution of the tasks required for its development, as well as to ensure coordination between the bodies of the competent Administrations.
Since last Friday, November 1, the Governing Board of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) accepted the proposal of the Government of Chile for the 2019 climate summit (COP25) held in Madrid, the Government of Spain works to ensure the success of the organization of this international event, which will take place from December 2 to 13.
Although the Chilean authorities have adopted various preparatory measures and their organization is already in an advanced state, the change of venue of the Summit necessitates the implementation of an operational organizational complex by the Kingdom of Spain, in relationship with the aspects of the Summit linked to its headquarters. The dimensions of an international summit of these characteristics, as well as the imminence in its celebration, make it necessary to immediately adopt the necessary measures so that this operation is deployed in an agile and effective way.
In the first place, to ensure efficiency in the organization and holding of the Climate Summit, it is essential to encourage private sector participation as far as possible translated into tax incentives for patronage. Article 27 of Law 49/2002, of December 23, on the tax regime of non-profit entities and tax incentives for patronage, regulates the so-called "Support programs for events of exceptional public interest" ».
Through these programs, which must be established through a rule with the rank of law, it is possible to establish a set of specific tax incentives applicable to patronage actions that are carried out to ensure the proper development of those events that the law itself identifies, in each case, as of exceptional public interest.
Support for events of exceptional public interest
So that this special regime of tax incentives for patronage may be applicable to this assumption, article 1 of this Royal Decree-law declares this climate summit as an event of exceptional public interest. Likewise, establishes the duration of the support program (from November 1, 2019 until March 31, 2020); remits to the competent body the development and concretion of the actions to be carried out; establishes that the tax benefits of the program will be the maximum established in article 27.3 of the Law on the tax regime of non-profit entities and tax incentives for patronage and refers to the aforementioned Law as regards the certification of adequacy of the expenses incurred to the objectives and plans of the program.
Second, the celebration of the Cumbre of CLima on the planned dates requires the performance of multiple actions by various organs of the General State Administration, some of which cannot be served with the Administration's own resources and therefore require to be performed by third parties through of the conclusion of public contracts. The preparation of the aforementioned event within the available period requires that urgent measures be taken in relation to contracting.
In these circumstances, the application of the emergency procedure provided for in the Public Sector Contracts Law is not sufficient to guarantee that the necessary contracts can be concluded within the limited time available.
Therefore, to enable the necessary regulatory measures to ensure that the necessary contracts for the celebration of the XXV United Nations Conference on Climate Change can be concluded in a timely manner, Article 2 of this Royal Decree-Law declares the celebration of the climate summit as a circumstance that justifies the application of the emergency processing provided for in article 120 of the Public Sector Contracts Law to the contracts necessary for the preparation and celebration of COP25.
In this last sense, it is interesting to note that this royal decree-law does not create new contracting mechanisms or modify existing ones, but rather enables the use of procedural means already provided for in the aforementioned Law on Public Sector Contracts.
Thirdly, Article 3 of this Royal Decree-Law designates the Secretary of State for the Environment as the competent body for contracting, to approve and arrange the necessary expenses, contractual or not, and to recognize the corresponding obligations, with the purpose to ensure that the corresponding steps are carried out in an orderly and efficient manner under the authority of a single administrative body.
Personal and economic means
Likewise, so that the General State Administration can immediately dispose of the necessary personal and economic means, the Ministries of Finance and Territorial Policy and Public Function are authorized to adopt all the necessary personnel measures for the execution and development of all activities related to the celebration of COP25.
The planned actions will be financed in accordance with the provisions of Law 47/2003, of November 26, General Budget, and will be taken care of according to the existing budgetary availability. For this, the Ministry of Finance will approve the corresponding budgetary modifications.
Organizing Committee
At the proposal of the ministries of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Equality and for the Ecological Transition, the Council of Ministers has approved a Royal Decree by which the Organizing Committee of the COP25 is created, for the planning, organization and execution of the precise tasks for the development of the same, as well as to assure the coordination between the organs of the competent Administrations.
Assigned to the Ministry for Ecological Transition, the Presidency will correspond to the Minister for the Ecological Transition in office and the Vice Presidency to the Director of the Cabinet of the Presidency of the Government. Likewise, the Committee is structured in a Plenary, an Executive Commission and a Technical Commission. They will be members of the Plenary, representatives of the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the Government, as well as of the ministries for the Ecological Transition, Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation; Territorial Policy and Public Function; Treasury and Interior; of the House of S.M the King, of the High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda, of the Community of Madrid and the City Council of Madrid.
The functions of the Plenary of the Organizing Committee are: to approve the program of activities of COP 25; seek the collaboration of the ministerial departments and the agencies and entities competent for the fulfillment of their objectives; coordinate and support the actions of public administrations and other institutions and entities, for the proper development of the activities referred to in this royal decree, and any others that were appropriate for the development of COP 25.
For its part, the Executive Commission will be chaired by the Minister for Ecological Transition in office and will be composed of the following members: the Secretary of State for the Environment; the Secretary of State for Security; the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Government; the undersecretary of the Ministry of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Equality; the undersecretary of the Ministry for Ecological Transition; the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation; the undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance; the director of the Spanish Office of Climate Change; a member of the Support Unit; a representative of the Community of Madrid and another of the Madrid City Council.
The Technical Commission will depend on the Executive Committee and will consist of five members, appointed by the Presidency of the Executive Committee, and may fall on members of the Executive Committee itself. Two members will be appointed at the proposal of the Ministry for Ecological Transition, one at the proposal of the Ministry of Finance, one at the proposal of the Community of Madrid and one at the proposal of the City Council of Madrid.
The President of the Technical Commission will be appointed from among its members by the President of the Executive Committee.
The Organizing Committee will be assisted by a Support Unit, attached to the Minister for Ecological Transition, which is responsible for carrying out all the activities necessary to ensure the proper functioning and organization of COP25.