Jesús Gual, the director general for European Funds and the Public Sector, stepped down from his teaching post at a dissenting academy, three and a half months after taking office, following a report by the Generalitat Conflict of Interest Control Office. Transparency highlighted a mismatch between his duties at the Ministry of Finance and his teaching activities, and had previously urged him to correct and clarify inconsistencies in the activity statements he submitted.
On November 27, Transparency flagged Gual as incompatible with holding the general manager post while his teaching activity had not been disclosed. Treasury sources stated that Gual voluntarily left his teaching role on that date, effective November 24, three days prior to the disclosure, and 112 days after his appointment on August 4, prompted by Transparency’s warning and revisions to his statements.
Upon appointment, senior officials must submit two activity statements: the job description, which should align with the official position, and an antecedents declaration. Gual filed the first on October 3, omitting any reference to his teaching activity, and the second indicating a preparatory phase for an opposition with a start date of 09/02/2023. Transparency deemed this compliant on October 18, noting an end date of 03/03/2023. 10/2023.”
A week later, on the 26th, a new activity declaration appeared, showing teaching work since 2013 tied to the opposition process and with no end date, signaling an ongoing engagement. The same day, the chief executive also submitted a pre-tenure activity statement that did not mention the teaching activity described earlier.
Consequently, on November 6, the Conflict of Interest Control Office requested that the two activity statements be reconciled or clarified to resolve any inconsistencies. Gual also informed the office that the paid teaching activity was incompatible with serving in the Generalitat.
Facing this obligation, on November 16, a week before resigning from the teaching role, Gual sent a letter to the office’s appointee noting that the teaching and training activity had already been performed. The position remained recognized as a senior post and continued to be used, which required a formal compliance decision on whether it met the standards or fell short.
Transparency subsequently declared the incompatibility inappropriate and set a two-month window to justify the reasons behind the incompatibility. It also noted that regulatory changes could trigger a new assessment before the two months end, and suggested that this matter might be revisited during the debate on the Accompaniment Act reforms. [Source: Conflict of Interest Control Office and Transparency reports].