On March 31, 2021, Royal Decree 202/2021, of March 30, was published in the Official State Gazette, which reorganizes certain public research bodies of the General Administration of the State and modifies Royal Decree 1730/2007, of December 21, which creates the State Agency Higher Council of Scientific Research and approves its Statute, and Royal Decree 404/2020, of February 25, which develops the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
This reorganization implies the extension to these centers (INIA, IGME and IEO) integrated in the CSIC of the legal regime of state agency, more flexible and suitable for the management of science that, in addition, has been recovered by the Law that approves the General Budgets of the State for 2021. It should be recalled that the actions of the State agencies are carried out in accordance with the annual plan of action, which is in force and in accordance with the relevant multiannual management contract, which establishes, among others, the objectives to be pursued, the results to be obtained, the plans necessary to achieve the objectives, the personal, material and budgetary resources, and the effects associated with the degree of fulfillment of the objectives. In the management contract, the mechanisms that allow the demand of responsibilities for non-compliance with objectives are determined.
This reform strengthens the measures for evaluating and monitoring the activity of IPAs, and for monitoring the effectiveness of their actions. In this sense, part of its funding will be conditional on the evaluation of its results from 2022.
