The discrepancies in six articles slow down the final stretch of the reform of the 'gag law'

Riot police charged protesters during a rally held in February 2021 in Valencia.Biel Aliño (EFE)

The complex and long negotiation to reform the Citizen Security Law, known as the

, is heading towards its final stretch even with significant differences between the six parliamentary groups -PSOE, Unidas Podemos, ERC, PNV, EH Bildu and Junts- that are trying to reach an agreement.

The last stumbling block are six articles in which, since these parties created a working group in March to agree on a text to bring to the plenary session of Congress, they have not been able to agree, sources familiar with the content of the negotiations confirm to EL PAÍS.

Of them, three are the ones that cause the greatest discrepancies, according to the same sources.

These are those that include the use by the Police of riot gear and, specifically, of rubber bullets to deal with street riots (article 23);

the one that sets the penalties for disrespect to agents (article 37.4), and the one that endorses rejections at the border,

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The PSOE is left alone in the defense of rubber balls in the reform of the 'gag law'

Of the other three, the same sources emphasize that the agreement is "quite close", but that some differences still have to be overcome to be able to add all the negotiating parties, key for the text that reaches the plenary session of Congress to get the necessary votes. for your approval.

These are those referring to the subsidiary responsibility of the conveners of a demonstration for the incidents that may occur during the same (article 30.3);

the one that penalizes "disobedience or resistance to the authority or its agents" with fines of between 601 and 30,000 euros, which was massively used to punish those who broke confinement during the pandemic (article 36.6), and the one that allows the Forces Security to install controls in public places to identify and search people,

and register vehicles (article 17.2).

In the last meeting, held on Thursday, the six parliamentary groups agreed to change the current format of the negotiations to try to bridge these differences before the end of the year.

Unidas Podemos and PNV will present texts to the other parties to pave the way for the final agreement.

The most controversial point, and in which the positions are still more at odds, is the use of rubber balls.

ERC, Junts ―remembering that the Mossos d'Esquadra have prohibited their use and use

supposedly less harmful viscoelastic material― and EH Bildu demand its immediate ban.

For its part, the PNV advocates the model implemented in Euskadi by the Basque Government, which restricts its use by the Ertzaintza to such exceptional cases that in the last 10 years its agents have not fired any.

PSOE and Unidas Podemos raised an amendment at the beginning of the negotiations that did not contemplate any cuts, although it advocated developing "specific protocols" to "always use the least harmful means for people and avoiding those that cause irreparable injuries."

That is the position that the Socialists still maintain, but not their government partners, who recently made an alternative proposal: the creation, within six months,

Something similar occurs with the article that establishes as a minor infraction ―sanctioned with fines of 100 to 600 euros― “lack of respect and consideration” towards the police.

This point is one of the most used by the Security Forces to sanction since the regulation came into force.

The Socialists have rejected the two proposals raised so far.

The one from United We Can wanted to limit these sanctions to "insults or injuries", as it already included in the amendments that it presented alone when the debate began.

The other, from the PNV, proposed punishing "expressions or behaviors" that discredit the exercise of the function of the agents.

The PSOE defends that the current text is maintained.

The third major stumbling block is the so-called hot returns, again topical after the tragedy at the Melilla fence on June 24, in which at least 23 migrants and refugees died and after which 470 were returned to Morocco. The Constitutional Court endorsed this figure in November 2020 based on a pronouncement that, in February of that same year, had been made by the European Court of Human Rights.

However, in that ruling the guarantee court set conditions for carrying them out, expressly prohibiting their application to “especially vulnerable” people, such as minors, pregnant women, the elderly or those with a disability.

The PSOE wants to collect these conditions, but maintaining in any case in the new

the possibility of rejections at the border.

Other groups, however, propose the elimination of this figure or, at least, a reform to increase the guarantees of migrants and avoid, precisely, that it be applied to these groups and migrants with the right to take refuge in the figure of asylum.

discrepancies

The discrepancies in the other three articles without an agreement are "minor", according to several sources consulted.

In the case of the one that punishes disobedience to the police, there was already a principle of agreement in a proposal that indicated that this will only be punishable if it was accompanied by "corporal opposition or physical force."

According to negotiating sources, the PSOE, which at first had given the go-ahead, is now raising objections again.

The Socialists have not responded to the requirements of this newspaper to know their version.

In the case of the article that indicates the conveners and promoters of the demonstrations as "responsible subjects" for the infractions that occur in them,

some groups demand that it be suppressed considering that they cannot be held responsible for what the participants in it do.

The last point without agreement, the one referring to the controls in public spaces, some parties want to add the obligation of the Police to communicate these measures "limiting rights" to the Prosecutor's Office, the Ombudsman and, in the case of that there be regional police with powers in the territory where it occurs, to this.

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