Getting to know Spain through open data
Publication Date/Time
2024-01-25T09:00:00+00:00
Open data brings the EU closer at a national level
Three leading institutions are involved in EU decision-making
[https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/law/how-eu-policy-decided_en].
The European Parliament represents EU citizens, the Council of the
European Union represents EU governments, and the European Commission
represents the EU’s overall interests. The Council of the European
Union
[https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institutions-and-bodies/search-all-eu-institutions-and-bodies/council-european-union_en]
comprises government ministers from each EU Member State, who make
decisions on EU laws jointly with the European Parliament, based on
legislative proposals put forward by the European Commission. The
Presidency of the Council rotates every 6 months among the
governments of the EU. Spain held the Council Presidency from 1 July
to 31 December 2023. During this period, representatives from Spain
facilitated policy discussions and mediated initiatives to achieve the
best results for the EU and its citizens. 

Understanding the state of play in EU Member States across several
policy topics requires data. Open data is an especially valuable
resource for gaining insights into diverse government-related topics,
including monitoring progress towards achieving political and economic
priorities. Datasets from national portals can enrich our
understanding of how EU-wide ambitions are being realised
nationally.With the example from Spain, this data story explores how
national datasets can shed light on diverse political and economic
topics. The analysis is focused on the four priorities of the Spanish
Presidency, reindustrialising the EU to ensure its strategic autonomy;
advancing the green transition; promoting greater social and economic
justice; and strengthening European unit 

REINDUSTRIALISING THE EU AND ENSURING ITS OPEN STRATEGIC AUTONOMY 

The commitment to reindustrialising and ensuring open strategic
autonomy means fostering the development of strategic industries and
technologies in the EU, especially in critical areas such as energy,
health, digital technologies and food. Reindustrialisation is about
diversifying trade relations, strengthening supply chains and
attracting new companies and jobs to the EU. 

But what does the industrialisation landscape look like in EU Member
States today? Open data allows us to zoom in on countries such as
Spain and understand the composition of its economic sectors. One
indicator of economic performance is productivity, which calculates
the added value of the average employee. Spanish companies involved in
extractive industries, the chemical and pharmaceutical industry and
cinematography, radio, television and telecommunications were the most
productive in 2021 (Figure 1).  

Policymakers could leverage such data in their decision-making in line
with strategic priorities. For example, would it be more impactful to
boost the productivity of frontrunners even further, or would the
strategic aims be better served by accelerating sectors with mid-level
productivity? 
 
_Figure 1: Productivity in 2021 of Spanish multinational companies in
several sectors (source: __data.europa.eu/Instituto Nacional de
Estadística_
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/urn-ine-es-oper-30227?locale=en]_) _

 

MAKING PROGRESS ON THE GREEN TRANSITION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ADAPTATION 

The Spanish Presidency presents curbing climate change and
environmental degradation not only as a legal and moral obligation but
also as a huge opportunity. When presenting the priorities, the
President of the Government of Spain stressed that the EU could become
a world leader in renewable energy
[https://spanish-presidency.consilium.europa.eu/en/programme/green-transition-spanish-presidency-eu-council/]
production if it anticipates and adapts to the challenges posed by
climate change and environmental degradation.  

So, how is Europe doing on its climate goals? Open data serves as a
resource for monitoring, evaluating and guiding the progress of policy
initiatives. Turning to open data from Spain as an example, we can
understand the country’s historical levels of greenhouse gas
emissions. In Figure 2, we can see that between 2012 and 2022, the
number of CO2-equivalent units released into the atmosphere decreased
by 6.37 tons per inhabitant, a 16 % drop in emissions per person.
The population increased by only 1 % over this period. This means
that the increase in population did not increase greenhouse gas
emissions. Represented in terms of tons of CO2 equivalent units per
euro, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 24 % while the gross
domestic product increased by 31 %. This means that increased
economic growth did not lead to greater greenhouse gas emissions. Such
data offers insight into Spain’s progress in addressing climate
change and shows its commitment to fighting climate change by
progressively reducing CO2 emissions. 
 
_Figure 2: Total greenhouse gas emissions of resident units __per
capita_
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/urn-ine-es-ods-7747-177-328?locale=en]_
and __by gross domestic product_
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/urn-ine-es-ods-7747-177-329?locale=en]_
in Spain (source: __data.europa.eu/Instituto Nacional de Estadística_
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/urn-ine-es-oper-30227?locale=en]_) _

 

PROMOTING GREATER SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE 

Promoting greater social and economic justice means going beyond gross
domestic product growth to ensure that the wealth generated benefits
all citizens and improves their opportunities and living standards.
This priority promotes a fairer, more caring and more competitive
economy. To achieve this, the Spanish Presidency advocated for minimum
and common standards for corporate taxation in the EU, fight tax
evasion by large multinationals and work to extend workers’ rights
and support vulnerable groups. The ambition, therefore, is to create a
more inclusive and equitable society for all citizens. 

Open data can be used to monitor and assess the impact of policies
aimed at improving citizens’ living standards and opportunities.
Such data can also hold governments and other organisations
accountable for their commitments to creating a more equitable
society, offering greater opportunities to all citizens. Using Spain
as an example, we can examine the representation of women in national
and local governments over the years to discern some of the
country’s efforts towards gender inclusivity and equitable political
participation (Figure 3). In the past decade, representation by women
in the national congress
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/urn-ine-es-ods-4990-235-208?locale=en]
has increased from 36 % in 2011 to 43 % in 2021. Representation in
the national senate
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/urn-ine-es-ods-4990-235-209?locale=en]
also rose during this period, from 32 % to 39 %. Similar increases
over time are observed at the regional and local levels, as you can
see in Figure 3 for regional
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/urn-ine-es-ods-4990-235-210?locale=en]
government roles and  local
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/urn-ine-es-ods-4990-235-212?locale=en]
government roles occupied by women. Overall, we can see that women are
most equitably represented at the regional level, whereas
representation in local mayoralties is the lowest. 
 
_Figure 3: Percentage of seats held by women in Spain’s national
parliaments and local governments (source: __data.europa.eu/Instituto
Nacional de Estadística_
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/urn-ine-es-oper-30227?locale=en]_) _

 

STRENGTHENING EUROPEAN UNITY 

Ensuring a cohesive and integrated EU was seen as essential by the
Spanish Presidency to meet today’s challenges and maximise the
EU’s collective potential. This priority advocates for a greater
deepening of the internal market, the competition of the banking and
the capital markets unions, and the consolidation of common
instruments such as the NextGenerationEU
[https://next-generation-eu.europa.eu/index_en] funds, among other
focus areas. 

Common instruments such as NextGenerationEU also demonstrate how the
priority of European unity enables Member States to make progress
towards joint objectives. For example, Member States are using funding
from the Recovery and Resilience Facility
[https://next-generation-eu.europa.eu/recovery-and-resilience-facility_en]
(RRF), the core instrument of NextGenerationEU, to implement ambitious
reforms and investments to make their economies and societies more
sustainable, resilient and prepared for the green and digital
transitions (Figure 4). Open data allows us to discover Member
States’ progress in accelerating the digital and green transitions.
Member States often exceed the target expenditure contributions to
climate and digital objectives under the RRF. In terms of digital
expenditure, Germany and Austria are forerunners, allocating 53 %
and 51 % of their RRF funding to digital objectives, well above the
target of at least 20 %. Several countries are using their RRF
funding to accelerate their climate objectives. Bulgaria, Denmark,
Estonia, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria and Finland contribute more than
50 % of their funding to climate expenditure, exceeding the target
of 37 %. 
 
_Figure 4: EU expenditure towards climate and digital objectives from
the Recovery and Resilience Facility (source:
__data.europa.eu/Directorate-General for Economic and Financial
Affairs_
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/recovery-and-resilience-scoreboard?locale=en]_) _

 

CONCLUSION 

Spain’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union highlights
four central priorities: reindustrialisation, the green transition,
social equity and European unity. These priorities have guided
political and economic efforts during Spain’s semester of
presidency. In support of such efforts, open data can offer insights
that help craft informed policies, track progress and propel the EU
towards a more resilient and prosperous future. For example, open data
about the make-up of economic sectors can inform national
reindustrialisation strategies. Open data about carbon emissions shed
light on the progress made towards achieving the green transition.
Demographic statistics reveal how representation in government has
evolved. And open data on joint expenditure towards joint objectives
show how unity can bring about more sustainable and resilient
economies and societies across national contexts. Overall, open data
provides a solid foundation for a data-driven society. 

Do you have questions about economic and political topics relating to
your country or the EU in general? Translate your curiosity into
insights thanks to the open datasets available on data.europa.eu.
Also, stay tuned for our next data stories and webinars by subscribing
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