Administrative simplification in the area of company incorporation

Measures in the Plan for the Reduction of Administrative Burdens and Improvements in Regulation (2008)

Another very important action worthy of note was the Plan for the Reduction of Administrative Burdens and Improvements in Regulation. By means of a resolution adopted by the Council of Ministers, the Spanish Government, at its meeting on May 4th, 2007, moved forward with its programme for the improvement of regulations and the reduction of administrative burdens and undertook to draw up an Action Plan on these matters with specific measures and targets; this task was entrusted to the High Level Group set up for the purpose.

At its meeting on June 20th, 2008, the Council of Ministers approved the Resolution for the development of the Plan for the Reduction of Administrative Burdens and Improvements in Regulation, currently in progress.

In the execution of this plan, several packages of measures have been implemented to reduce administrative burdens. In the area of company creation, it is worth highlighting measure 59 in the second package of measures approved by the Government in the Council of Ministers Resolution dated August 14th, 2008. This measure consists of the following actions:

• Extension of the remote electronic processing to self-employed individuals.
• Initiation of the procedure directly via the Internet.
• Intensification of the collaboration with regions and local institutions for the standardization and simplification of proceedings.

The first action implemented was the Royal Decree regulating the use of the Single Electronic Document (SED) for the remote electronic processing of sole trader companies (self-employed individuals) approved by the Council of Ministers on March 26th, 2010.

The second action began in December, 2008, so it is now possible for the citizenry to process SEDs directly through the electronic home of the DGPYME using an electronically signed certificate. This process is known as “virtual PAIT”. In this way, the administration is complying with the provisions stipulated in Law 11 dated June 22nd, 2007, on electronic access to public services by the citizenry.

The third and last action was initially implemented with collaboration between the “e facil” platform (literally “e-easy”, developed by the office of the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and the Information Society in the framework of the “Avanza” local solutions programme) and the CIRCE system. This collaboration allows the exchange of data so CIRCE system users are able to apply for and process electronically the municipal licences granted by local institutions using the “e facil” platform.