Harmon and Newtral will promote civil society’s access to legislation through Parlamentia.

Harmon, the first consultancy specializing in non-market strategies in Spain, has signed a collaboration agreement with Newtral to promote transparency in the public policy-making process through Parlamentia, the new platform that combines technology and journalism to provide direct and clear access to the laws being processed in the Congress of Deputies. Harmon and Newtral will collaborate on an innovation project aimed at facilitating the understanding of regulatory processes and the participation of civil society in public affairs.

Parlamentia, which launches today, will serve as the grand portal for laws in Spain. Any user can see the process each law follows from its introduction in Congress until its publication in the BOE, and access explanatory summaries of legislative proposals and their impact on citizens’ daily lives. The tool, supported by Political Watch on the technological side, also offers simple explanations on how the legislative process develops and what each phase entails. The platform compiles data and context on what happens at the different stages of a law’s passage.

Parlamentia’s database includes laws passed by the parliament since the Transition. It contains more than 600 laws and legislative proposals from the current legislature and more than 2,600 regulations from previous legislatures, accessible through the search engine, and 170 summaries of the different types of initiatives presented in Congress. Harmon’s support provides additional resources to the project, contributing the technical knowledge of its professionals in various thematic areas affecting the regulatory field.

According to Manuel de la Fuente, Public Affairs Partner at Harmon, “with this project, Harmon continues to strive to bring the decision-making process closer to civil society, third sector organizations, and the private sector on issues that have a direct impact on their daily lives. In a year marked by electoral intensity, such initiatives are fundamental to move away from headlines and understand how our own democratic process works, with the aim of contributing to a more informed and therefore more participatory society.”

“For more than two years, we have been working on a project that did not exist in Spain until now and that will allow anyone to see how laws affect them, how they are processed, and which political groups support them,” explains Ana Pastor, founder of Newtral. “Every detail of our daily lives is often conditioned by public policies and the laws implemented in Europe, Spain, and the autonomous communities. Now they can be consulted in Parlamentia thanks to the commitment to transparency and innovation that has been in Newtral’s DNA since its inception.”

The new portal is aimed at private and third sector organizations, professional associations, and interest groups in the various topics affected by regulation. It constitutes a public utility tool for specialists, students, and citizens interested in Political Science, Law, Journalism, and political information.