María Teresa Fernández de la Vega resigns as president of the Council of State

The president of the Council of State, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, has decided to resign from her position, in which she will be replaced on the 20th, as announced this Thursday to the councilors of the institution.

De la Vega (Valencia, 1949) has also chaired this Thursday her last meeting at the head of the permanent commission of the Council, in which the counselor Victoria Camps has formalized her resignation, for personal reasons.

Sources from the government advisory body estimate that there is a relationship between the two resignations and that De la Vega could return to a position as permanent counselor, a position she held before becoming president in 2018.

The sources consulted estimate that the resignation of Camps and the announcement of the resignation of Fernández de la Vega occur simultaneously to facilitate this internal change before the beginning of the last year of the legislature.

If De la Vega now takes up a position as permanent director again, she will be able to remain in the institution indefinitely, since the position that remains vacant is for life.

On the other hand, if the current president of the Board had remained in her position —whose annual salary amounts to 86,900.76 euros—, missing the opportunity to recover a position as permanent director —whose remuneration rises to 119,778.17 euros—, the next year could be dismissed as head of the institution in the event that the PSOE lost the elections.

In short, the replacement of Camps by De la Vega as permanent counselor ensures the outgoing president's permanence in the Council of State, while continuity in the presidency does not have the same security, since she is awaiting the results of the next general election.

De la Vega, in any case, did not explain what steps he plans to take after stepping down from the presidency.

In the media of the Council itself, it is estimated that the secrecy followed in this case is largely due to its coincidence in time with the departure of Carlos Lesmes from the presidency of the General Council of the Judicial Power and the Supreme Court.

And also to the need to appoint a new president or president who does not see an inconvenience in accepting the position in the fact that it may last only one year.

The Board will be temporarily chaired by Miguel Herrero y Rodríguez de Miñón, as the oldest permanent director.

In these sources it is given as very likely that De la Vega will be succeeded by another female jurist and the name of the former Vice President of the Government Carmen Calvo is especially mentioned, who was already mentioned for the position when she left the Government, in July of the year past, in anticipation that the current incumbent of the presidency might decide to leave it before the end of her mandate.

The Council affirms that Calvo's appointment would be a message of support for the critical theses that the former vice president has maintained regarding the

in the sense that it can harm equality legislation.

The opinion on this norm provoked strong debates in the Council of State, and calls from various sectors were not lacking, but in any case it was already approved and sent to the Government last July.

At the meeting of the permanent it was Victoria Camps who reported that she had already sent the president her letter of resignation, so her position as permanent councilor is vacant.

De la Vega thanked the work carried out by Camps, Professor of Ethics at the University of Barcelona.

The counselor explained that due to her age (81 years) it is difficult for her to maintain her current activity, which requires her to travel continuously between the Catalan capital and Madrid.

De la Vega announced that she will propose that Camps continue as an elective counselor, which does not require the same continued presence at the Council of State headquarters.

The current president of the Council of State — a councilor since 2010 — was the first woman to hold the position since the foundation of the institution five centuries ago.

Previously, she was Vice President of the Government with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who appointed her in 2004, as well as Minister of the Presidency and spokesperson for the Executive.

As detailed on the Council's website, the rank of the presidency is that of a Government minister and its main functions, in addition to the institutional representation of the Council, are to preside over the bodies of the institution and the leadership of all dependencies.

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