State and Regional Administrative Coordination in Spain
that requires a high degree of complexity and interdependence in terms of politicaladministrative action . As a result , multilevel relations marked by conflict have predominated since the beginning of the State of the Autonomous Communities . K
Hypothesis
Given the political context that has been described thus far , it would be expected that the Sectoral Conferences should suffer all the reluctance of the different political actors with respect to a territorial model that even today has a precarious ideologicalpolitical basis . In this regard , the starting point is one which includes a relatively small number of actors committed to cooperative federalism and an institutional framework that has not favored the reversion of this trend . We propose that this inevitably has an influence on organizations such as the Sectoral Conferences , which are institutions intended to facilitate shared government , that is to say , the participation of the territorial bodies in the State ’ s communal decisions .
Against that background , a hypothesis is proposed that will be tested later on by means of analysis : the Sectoral Conferences in Spain represent a partyoriented activity , rather than fulfilling the normative commitment of implementing co-decisions . Thus , although designed for coordinating and making possible inter-governmental relations , the Sectoral Conferences reproduce government / opposition dialectics , leaving the formal objectives of the institution in a subordinate position . In this context , representatives of those regions with a strong identity , such as the Basque Country and Catalonia , prefer bilateral frameworks over coordination and bargaining in multilateral forums .
Origins and Evolution of the Spanish Sectoral Conferences
At the beginning of the 1980s , the first Sectoral Conferences were set up at the request of the different territorial actors . Law 12 / 83 of 14 October on the Proceso Autonómico (“ Regional Process ”) and later the Acuerdos Autonómicos (“ Regional Agreements ”) of 1992 involved the recognition of the Sectoral Conferences , giving them institutional status as the essential instrument for the development of cooperative action among the State and the Autonomous Regions . Later , Law 30 / 1992 on the Régimen Jurídico de las Administraciones Públicas y del Procedimiento Administrativo Común (“ Legal Framework of the Public Authorities and the Common Administrative Procedure ”) recognized the Sectoral Conferences as organs of cooperation among the State and Autonomous Regions ( art . 5 ), set up as formalized mechanisms of vertical , multilateral cooperation of a sectoral and political nature ( Ruiz González 2012 , 293 ).
The current situation is one of different rates of development and rhythms among the 44 Sectoral Conferences and other assimilated bodies , according to Ministry of Finance and Public Administration ( MINHAP ) figures ( 2014 ).
K
According to Agranoff ( 1993 , 91 – 2 ), this panorama particularly characterises the first stage ( 1975 – 85 ) of the development of the autonomous communities , and the Sectoral Conferences , our subject of study , were designed particularly for this . What is being looked at here is the extent to which the conferences have , over the years , acted to correct this initial situation .
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