URGENT MEASURES FOR THE LIBERALIZATION OF TRADE AND CERTAIN SERVICES

On May 25, it was published in the BOE the Royal Decree-Law 19/2012, of urgent measures to liberalize trade and certain services, coming into force on Saturday, May 26.

From Fraternidad-Muprespa We found it interesting to make a summary of the most notable aspects of this regulation, which came into force last Saturday, May 26.

License unenforceability

1. For the initiation and development of commercial activities and services, administrations or public sector entities may not be required to obtain a prior license for facilities, operation or activity, nor others of a similar or analogous kind that require prior authorization to exercise the commercial activity to be developed or the very possibility of opening the corresponding establishment.
2. Changes in ownership of commercial activities and services are also not subject to licensing. In these cases, prior communication to the competent administration will be required for informational purposes only.
3. A license or prior authorization will not be required to carry out works linked to the conditioning of premises to carry out commercial activity when they do not require the drafting of a work project in accordance with Law 38/1999, of November 5, on Building Planning.
4. The non-enforceability of a license will not apply to building works that are required in accordance with current regulations, which will continue to be regulated, in terms of the requirement for a prior license, general requirements and competence for its granting, by its corresponding regulations.
   
   

Responsible declaration or prior communication

1. Previous licenses that, in accordance with the above, cannot be required, will be replaced by responsible declarations, or by prior communications, in accordance with the provisions of article 71.bis of Law 30/1992, of November 26, on the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and the Common Administrative Procedure, relating to compliance with the legal provisions established in current regulations. In any case, the declarant must be in possession of proof of payment of the corresponding tax when required.
2. The responsible declaration, or the prior communication, must contain an explicit statement of compliance with those requirements that are required in accordance with current regulations, including being in possession of the project, in the event that the works to be carried out require it as established in Law 38/1999, of November 5, on Building Planning.
3. The projects referred to in the previous section must be signed by competent technicians in accordance with current regulations.
4. When various actions must be carried out related to the same activity or in the same premises where it is carried out, the responsible declarations, or prior communications, will be processed jointly.
   
   

Subjection to the general control regime

1. The presentation of the responsible declaration, or of the prior communication, with the consequent effect of authorization from that moment for the material exercise of the commercial activity, will not in any way prejudge the situation and effective adaptation of the conditions of the establishment to the applicable regulations, nor will it limit the exercise of the administrative powers, verification, inspection, sanction, and in general control that the administration in any order, state, regional or local, are attributed to by the sectoral regulation applicable in each case.

Qualification of collaborating entities

1. To carry out the verification activity of the requirements and circumstances referred to in the responsible declaration or prior communication, the competent local corporations may resort to the private collaboration of legally accredited valuation entities, through which all or part of the verification activity may be managed. These entities will act on a concurrency basis. In any case, the interested parties, for the purposes of evaluating the requirements expressed in their responsible declarations, or in their previous communications, may freely use or not use the services of said entities, without this resulting in any differentiated treatment by the competent administration, recipient of the communication.

Previous license requests

1. The procedures initiated prior to the entry into force, which have the purpose of obtaining the licenses or authorizations that were necessary in accordance with the previous regulations, will be processed and resolved by the regulations in force at the time of submission of the application.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of the previous section, the interested party may, prior to the resolution, withdraw from their request and, in this way, opt for the application of the new regulations to what they in turn are applicable.

Link ROYAL DECREE-LAW 19/2012.

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