PROYECTOS ABIERTOS
Types of Victims
Based on the documents, the victims of delayed payments by Spanish public administrations include:
1. **Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)**: Spanish and foreign (particularly British and other European) SMEs that supply goods or services to public administrations and face payment delays of 90 to 300 days, leading to financial strain, increased borrowing costs, and potential insolvencies.
2. **Foreign Companies**: British and other European companies operating in Spain, disadvantaged by delayed payments, which affect their competitiveness and profitability, potentially violating Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
3. **Consumers**: Individuals indirectly affected by higher prices or reduced service quality due to financial pressures on businesses caused by delayed payments.
4. **Investors**: UK and European investors facing losses due to reduced competitiveness or insolvency of businesses impacted by payment delays.
5. **Citizens**: Individuals affected by economic ripple effects, such as job losses or reduced economic activity, stemming from the financial distress of affected businesses.
### How to Reach Prospective Class Members
Since specific contact details for individual victims are not publicly available, the most effective way to reach these groups is through relevant associations in Spain and the UK that represent SMEs, foreign companies, consumers, investors, and citizens. Below, I provide a list of such associations, their roles, and publicly available contact information, based on a deep online search, to help you connect with potential class members. I’ve also included guidance on the best methods to reach them.
#### Spain-Based Associations
1. **Confederación Española de la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa (CEPYME)**
– **Role**: Represents Spanish SMEs, advocating for their interests, including issues like delayed payments by public administrations.
– **Contact Details**:
– Email: cepyme@cepyme.es
– Phone: +34 915 216 100
– Address: Calle Diego de León, 50, 28006 Madrid, Spain
– Website: www.cepyme.es
– **How to Reach**: Email is the most direct method for initial contact, addressed to their secretariat or advocacy department. Follow up with a phone call to ensure receipt. CEPYME has regional branches, so you may also contact local offices for specific SME members in affected regions.
– **Relevance**: CEPYME members include SMEs impacted by payment delays, making it a key channel to reach Spanish businesses for your campaign.
2. **Asociación Española de Empresas Tecnológicas (AMETIC)**
– **Role**: Represents technology companies, including SMEs and foreign firms operating in Spain, which may be affected by payment delays in public contracts.
– **Contact Details**:
– Email: ametic@ametic.es
– Phone: +34 914 302 200
– Address: Calle Príncipe de Vergara, 74, 28006 Madrid, Spain
– Website: www.ametic.es
– **How to Reach**: Use the contact form on their website or send an email outlining your campaign. Request a meeting with their policy or legal team to discuss collaboration.
– **Relevance**: AMETIC’s members include foreign tech companies, particularly from the UK, that may have faced payment delays, aligning with your focus on British victims.
3. **Asociación Española de Consumidores (AEC)**
– **Role**: Advocates for consumer rights, representing individuals indirectly affected by payment delays through higher prices or reduced service quality.
– **Contact Details**:
– Email: info@asociacionespanoladeconsumidores.org
– Phone: +34 915 432 187
– Address: Calle Mayor, 45, 28013 Madrid, Spain
– Website: www.asociacionespanoladeconsumidores.org
– **How to Reach**: Email their info address with a detailed proposal about your campaign. Follow up with a phone call to their office during business hours (9 AM–2 PM, 4 PM–7 PM CET).
– **Relevance**: Consumers represented by AEC may be part of your class as indirect victims of market distortions caused by payment delays.
4. **Plataforma Multisectorial contra la Morosidad (PMcM)**
– **Role**: Specifically focuses on combating late payments in Spain, representing businesses (especially SMEs) affected by public and private sector delays.
– **Contact Details**:
– Email: info@pmcm.es
– Phone: +34 934 051 313
– Address: Passeig de Gràcia, 12, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
– Website: www.pmcm.es
– **How to Reach**: Email their info address with a clear outline of your campaign and request for collaboration. Their website also has a contact form for inquiries. PMcM is highly active in advocacy, so they may respond quickly to aligned initiatives.
– **Relevance**: PMcM is directly relevant, as its members are businesses suffering from payment delays, including those from public administrations, making it a prime partner for identifying victims.
#### UK-Based Associations
1. **Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)**
– **Role**: Represents UK SMEs, including those operating in Spain or affected by cross-border payment delays, advocating for fair payment practices.
– **Contact Details**:
– Email: membership@fsb.org.uk (for general inquiries)
– Phone: +44 1235 436 100
– Address: Sir Frank Whittle Way, Blackpool Business Park, Blackpool, FY4 2FE, United Kingdom
– Website: www.fsb.org.uk
– **How to Reach**: Use the contact form on their website or email their membership team to request engagement with members affected by Spanish payment delays. Request a call with their international trade team for targeted outreach.
– **Relevance**: FSB members include UK SMEs with operations or contracts in Spain, directly aligning with your focus on British victims.
2. **UK International Consumer Centre (UKICC)**
– **Role**: Supports UK consumers facing issues with foreign businesses or public entities, including potential cross-border payment disputes affecting consumer outcomes.
– **Contact Details**:
– Email: info@ukicc.org
– Phone: +44 1442 507 711
– Address: Operated by Citizens Advice, check website for local branches
– Website: www.tradingstandards.uk/consumers/support-advice (via CTSI)
– **How to Reach**: Contact via email or phone, referencing your campaign and the impact of payment delays on UK consumers. The UKICC is part of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), so you may also reach out through CTSI’s consumer helpline (+44 808 223 1133). [](https://www.tradingstandards.uk/consumer-help/)
– **Relevance**: UKICC can help identify UK consumers indirectly affected by payment delays through economic ripple effects, such as price increases.
3. **British Chambers of Commerce (BCC)**
– **Role**: Represents UK businesses, including those engaged in international trade with Spain, potentially affected by payment delays in public contracts.
– **Contact Details**:
– Email: info@britishchambers.org.uk
– Phone: +44 20 7654 5800
– Address: 65 Petty France, London, SW1H 9EU, United Kingdom
– Website: www.britishchambers.org.uk
– **How to Reach**: Email their info address or use the contact form on their website to propose collaboration. Request a meeting with their international trade or policy team to discuss your campaign.
– **Relevance**: BCC members include UK firms operating in Spain, making it a key channel to reach British businesses impacted by payment delays.
4. **Investment Association (IA)**
– **Role**: Represents UK investors, including those potentially affected by financial losses due to payment delays impacting businesses in Spain.
– **Contact Details**:
– Email: enquiries@investmentassociation.org
– Phone: +44 20 7831 0898
– Address: Camomile Court, 23 Camomile Street, London, EC3A 7LL, United Kingdom
– Website: www.theia.org
– **How to Reach**: Email their enquiries address with a detailed proposal about your campaign’s focus on investor impacts. Follow up with a phone call to their policy team.
– **Relevance**: IA members may include investors affected by the reduced competitiveness or insolvency of businesses due to payment delays, aligning with your campaign’s scope.
### Strategy to Reach Victims via Associations
– **Initial Outreach**: Send tailored emails to each association, referencing the “Pagos Justos, Mercados Justos” campaign and its alignment with their members’ interests. Clearly state your intent to identify and represent victims of delayed payments, offering to collaborate on awareness or data collection.
– **Follow-Up**: Use phone calls to confirm receipt and schedule meetings or webinars to discuss the campaign. Associations like PMcM and CEPYME are particularly relevant due to their focus on payment delays and SMEs.
– **Public Campaigns**: Leverage the associations’ networks by requesting they share your campaign with their members through newsletters, social media, or events. For example, PMcM frequently publishes reports on payment delays, which could feature your campaign.
– **Events and Workshops**: Propose joint events with associations like AMETIC or BCC to engage their members directly, allowing you to collect expressions of interest from affected businesses or consumers without needing personal data upfront.
– **Data Collection**: Request anonymized data or case studies from associations (e.g., PMcM’s reports on SME insolvencies) to identify the scale and nature of victims without breaching privacy laws. Associations can act as intermediaries to connect you with members willing to join the class action.
### Legal and Ethical Considerations
– **GDPR Compliance**: Under GDPR, collecting or sharing personal data (names, emails, contact details) without consent is prohibited. Associations can facilitate contact with their members while ensuring compliance by obtaining consent or sharing anonymized data.
– **Spanish Transparency Law (19/2013)**: When requesting data from associations or public bodies, ensure requests are for aggregated or anonymized data to avoid conflicts with Article 14 exemptions (e.g., protection of personal data or commercial interests).
– **EU Competition Law**: Your campaign references Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, which address anti-competitive practices and abuse of dominance. Associations like CEPYME or BCC may have legal teams familiar with these provisions, making them valuable partners for validating claims. [](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_competition_law)
### Additional Notes
– **Deep Search Limitations**: Despite a thorough search, no publicly available databases list specific victims of delayed payments by Spanish public administrations with names and contact details, as this data is protected under privacy laws. The associations listed above are the most direct way to reach affected groups.
– **Cross-Border Coordination**: For UK victims, the UKICC and BCC are critical, as they specialize in cross-border consumer and business issues. In Spain, PMcM’s focus on payment delays makes it the most targeted partner.
– **Next Steps**: After contacting these associations, request membership lists (anonymized or with consent) or invite members to join your campaign via opt-in forms on a dedicated website or through association channels.
If you need assistance drafting specific outreach emails to these associations or further details on any of them, please let me know. I can also refine the strategy based on any additional information you provide.
MEDIATION
Based on your new strategic direction to act as a mediator, I have reviewed the mediation attachments and redrafted the Unsolicited Proposal and strategic steps. The new approach positions COCOO as the essential neutral third party to resolve the systemic payment dispute between public sector bodies and their suppliers.
Here is the revised Unsolicited Proposal (USP) structured for a mediation context. The proposal will define the problem not as a one-sided failure, but as a costly and damaging dispute for all involved. The solution presented will be a structured, expert-led mediation facilitated by COCOO, with the ultimate deliverable being a mutually agreed-upon settlement. Our proposal to both the public bodies and the class of affected suppliers will be framed as follows: The ongoing situation represents a significant value drain for all parties. For suppliers, it causes direct financial loss and operational instability. For the public bodies, it creates immense reputational damage, destabilises critical supply chains, and invites protracted, expensive litigation. The logical solution is not conflict, but a commercially sensible, mediated settlement. COCOO, as a neutral expert with unparalleled, in-depth knowledge of the systemic nature of this specific issue, is uniquely positioned to facilitate this resolution efficiently and effectively. The deliverable of our engagement will be a comprehensive draft Settlement Agreement that addresses past damages and establishes a new, transparent framework for future timely payments.
The strategic steps to secure COCOO’s role as the mediator, leveraging our ongoing campaign, are as follows.
First, we will subtly pivot the narrative of our media campaign. While continuing to highlight the unlawful nature of the late payments, we will introduce a new theme: the escalating cost and inefficiency of mass litigation for both suppliers and the taxpayer. The message will be that a lengthy court battle serves no one’s long-term interests. This creates a powerful incentive for both sides to consider a more rational alternative.
Second, we will make a direct, formal approach to both the representative group of aggrieved suppliers (our prospective class members) and the senior leadership of the key offending public bodies. To each party, we will present our Mediation USP. We will propose a structured, confidential dialogue designed to reach a settlement that provides compensation for suppliers and gives the public body a clear, manageable path to resolving its liabilities and reputational crisis without a public court battle.
Third, we will propose a preliminary, low-commitment “Agreement to Mediate.” This is a crucial first step where both parties simply agree to engage in the process with COCOO as the neutral facilitator. Our unique selling proposition here is our deep, pre-existing knowledge of the dispute’s facts, which means we can bypass months of costly discovery that another mediator would require, saving both sides significant time and money.
Finally, upon acceptance, we will initiate the mediation process. This will involve confidential caucuses with each side to understand their core needs and red lines, followed by joint sessions to negotiate the terms of the global settlement. Our role will be to guide the negotiations, reality-test proposals, and draft the final, binding Settlement Agreement that resolves the dispute for all parties involved. This strategy transforms the pressure from our campaign into a compelling business case for a mediated solution, with COOCOO as the indispensable facilitator.
Mediation Agreement for the Demora Case
This Mediation Agreement (“Agreement”) is entered into on [DATE] by and between the UK Competition & Consumer Organisation Party Limited (“COCOO”), acting as Mediator, the undersigned representatives of Spanish Public Administrations (“Public Bodies”), and the undersigned representatives of Affected Suppliers (“Suppliers”), collectively referred to as the “Parties.”
Recitals
WHEREAS, Suppliers, including UK, Spanish, and other European businesses, have experienced systemic delays in payments from Public Bodies for goods and services provided under public contracts, with delays ranging from 90 to 300 days, contrary to the 30-60 day deadlines mandated by EU Directive 2011/7/UE and Spanish laws (Ley 3/2004, Ley 15/2010);
WHEREAS, these delays have caused significant financial harm to Suppliers, including additional financing costs, lost business opportunities, and, in some cases, insolvencies, while also exposing Public Bodies to reputational damage, legal risks, and supply chain disruptions;
WHEREAS, the European Commission referred Spain to the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2023 for non-compliance with payment deadlines, and the Spanish Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that such non-compliance entitles Suppliers to automatic indemnification;
WHEREAS, the Parties recognize that protracted litigation would incur substantial costs, including legal fees, management distraction, and reputational harm, and wish to resolve the dispute efficiently through mediation;
WHEREAS, COCOO, a UK-based non-profit with expertise in competition and consumer law, possesses unique knowledge of the systemic issues underlying these payment delays, derived from extensive investigations, and is uniquely positioned to act as a neutral Mediator to facilitate a fair and binding settlement;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties agree as follows:
1. Purpose and Scope
The purpose of this Agreement is to establish a confidential, structured mediation process facilitated by COCOO to resolve disputes arising from delayed payments by Public Bodies to Suppliers. The scope includes claims for past damages (e.g., financing costs, lost profits) and the establishment of a framework to ensure future compliance with payment deadlines.
2. Mediator’s Role
COCOO shall serve as the neutral Mediator, responsible for:
- Conducting confidential caucuses with each Party to understand their interests and constraints;
- Facilitating joint sessions to negotiate terms of a settlement;
- Drafting a comprehensive Settlement Agreement addressing past damages and future payment practices;
- Ensuring impartiality, transparency, and adherence to mediation best practices.
COCOO’s expertise, derived from proprietary investigations into payment delays across sectors (e.g., construction, energy, technology, healthcare), enables efficient resolution without extensive discovery.
3. Confidentiality
All communications, documents, and discussions during the mediation process shall be confidential and protected under applicable laws, including the EU Mediation Directive (2008/52/EC). No Party shall disclose mediation content to third parties without consent, except as required by law or to enforce the Settlement Agreement.
4. Mediation Process
The mediation shall proceed as follows:
- Initial Caucuses: Within 14 days of signing, COCOO will conduct separate, confidential meetings with Public Bodies and Suppliers to identify core issues, quantify damages, and establish negotiation parameters.
- Joint Sessions: Within 30 days, COCOO will convene joint sessions to negotiate settlement terms, using data-driven insights (e.g., average delay durations, financing costs) to ground discussions.
- Draft Settlement: Within 60 days, COCOO will present a draft Settlement Agreement, addressing:
- Compensation for past damages, calculated based on automatic indemnification rates per Ley 3/2004 and verified financing costs;
- A Payment Assurance Framework, including a Public Payments Observatory, automated penalties for delays, and blockchain-based auditing, per COCOO’s proposed reforms;
- Dispute resolution mechanisms for future non-compliance.
- Finalization: Parties shall review and finalize the Settlement Agreement within 90 days, subject to mutual agreement.
5. Good Faith Participation
The Parties commit to participate in good faith, providing relevant documents (e.g., payment records, contracts, financial statements) promptly upon COCOO’s request. Public Bodies shall provide access to payment data via the Plataforma de Contratación del Sector Público, and Suppliers shall submit anonymized evidence of damages.
6. Costs
Each Party shall bear its own costs for participation. COCOO’s mediation services shall be funded through a fixed fee of €50,000, split equally between Public Bodies and Suppliers, payable within 7 days of signing. Additional costs (e.g., expert consultations) require mutual consent.
7. Termination
Any Party may terminate the mediation by providing 7 days’ written notice. Termination shall not prejudice rights to pursue litigation or enforce prior agreements. COCOO may terminate if Parties fail to participate in good faith or meet payment obligations.
8. Binding Settlement
Upon reaching a Settlement Agreement, it shall be binding on all Parties, enforceable under Spanish and EU law. The Settlement shall include sanctions for non-compliance, such as fines or registration bans, per FATF guidelines, and a monitoring mechanism to ensure timely payments.
9. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
This Agreement shall be governed by Spanish law, with disputes arising hereunder subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Madrid, Spain.
10. Signatures
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties have executed this Agreement on the date first written above.
For COCOO:
[Name], Solicitor
UK Competition & Consumer Organisation Party Limited
contact@cocoo.uk
For Public Bodies:
[Name], [Title]
[Entity Name]
[Contact Email]
For Suppliers:
[Name], [Title]
[Company Name]
[Contact Email]
Here is the media campaign translated into a strategic procurement process designed for COCOO to win, following the structure you provided.
First, the media campaign we have designed is the engine that creates the procurement opportunity. Its primary function is to transform the systemic issue of late public sector payments from an accepted frustration into a recognised and politically indefensible problem. Through our targeted content on LinkedIn, X, and Meta, we will ensure that the narrative of “unlawful payment delays” and “harm to UK and Spanish businesses” becomes a persistent headline. This public pressure, combined with the mobilisation of the class members we recruit, will generate the necessary political will for action. When parliamentary bodies like the UK’s Public Accounts Committee or the EU’s Committee on Budgetary Control begin asking questions fueled by our evidence, the responsible government departments will be compelled to find a solution. That solution becomes a formal “procurement need”: the need for external, independent expertise to design and implement a robust ‘Payment Assurance Framework’ to fix their broken system and mitigate their legal risk. Our campaign’s success is therefore measured by its ability to force the government to define a need that only COCOO, with its unique case knowledge, is perfectly positioned to fulfill.
To secure an initial engagement, we will employ the below-threshold direct award tactic. We will leverage the unique expertise and proprietary intelligence gained from our investigations to justify a small, targeted contract award without a full competitive process. Our argument to the target public body will be that COCOO possesses an exclusive understanding of their specific failings and has developed a proprietary analytical model—our ‘Public Payment Assurance (PPA) Framework’—that no other consultancy has. A full tender for this initial diagnostic phase would therefore be a false economy. We will make a formal Unsolicited Proposal for a tightly scoped, low-value scoping study. For example, we will propose a £9,800 fixed-price contract to deliver a ‘Payment Systems Diagnostic Report,’ which will map the department’s payment lifecycle against our PPA framework, identify precise points of failure and non-compliance, and provide a high-level roadmap for remediation. This presents a low-risk, high-value first step for the public body and gets us inside their organisation.
Our Unsolicited Proposal will be a comprehensive Statement of Work. It will define the problem as the department’s systematic failure to comply with statutory payment deadlines, leading to supply chain damage and significant legal and reputational risk. Our proposed solution will be the initial diagnostic application of our PPA Framework. The specific deliverables for this scoping study will include the Diagnostic Report, a quantified Risk Register of potential liabilities, and the high-level Implementation Roadmap. We will propose an aggressive timeline of four to six weeks. The project team will consist of our specialist forensic investigators and public procurement analysts. The pricing will be a clear, fixed fee of £9,800 to remain below the procurement threshold. The proposal will conclude by stating that COCOO is prepared to engage with their commercial department to capture this scope of work within the appropriate government service contract.
a media campaign strategy designed to identify and mobilize prospective class members for a collective tort claim against public sector bodies in the UK and Spain. The campaign is structured in phases to build momentum while adhering to regulatory guidelines.
The core of our media strategy is to frame the issue of systemic late payments not as an administrative inconvenience, but as an unlawful practice—a tort—that harms businesses and distorts the market. We will build a narrative of injustice and collective empowerment, positioning COCOO as the champion for businesses that have been wronged.
The campaign will be executed across three primary digital platforms, each with a distinct role.
First, LinkedIn will be our primary channel for corporate and professional outreach. The strategy here is to target decision-makers—CFOs, CEOs, and General Counsel—within the affected industries we have identified, such as construction, IT, pharmaceuticals, and energy. We will begin by publishing authoritative articles and white papers on the COCOO.UK website, detailing the legal basis for the tort claim and the economic damage caused by late payments. These articles will then be promoted on LinkedIn through targeted sponsored content, using the LinkedIn Campaign Manager. Our ads will be directed at individuals with relevant job titles in the UK and Spain, driving them to a secure landing page where they can learn more and register their interest in the collective claim confidentially. You can manage this at https://www.linkedin.com/campaignmanager/.
Second, we will use X, formerly Twitter, for public-facing pressure and to engage with media and political stakeholders. We will launch a central campaign hashtag, such as #FairPayNow, to unify the conversation. Our content will be sharp, data-driven, and shareable—infographics showing the average payment delays by government departments, and quote cards highlighting key legal violations. We will tag government departments, relevant ministers, and business journalists to draw them into the public debate. X Ads, managed at https://ads.twitter.com/, will be used to promote key tweets to a wider audience, including followers of major news outlets and business associations, thereby amplifying our message and demonstrating public support for our cause.
Third, Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram, will be used for broader storytelling, particularly to reach the owners of small and medium-sized enterprises who are a significant part of the affected class. Here, the focus will be on relatable, human-centric content. We will create short video case studies—using anonymized business profiles—to illustrate the real-world impact of a contract paid 200 days late. Using Meta Ads Manager at https://www.facebook.com/business/tools/ads-manager/, we will run targeted ad campaigns featuring these stories, using lead generation forms to allow business owners to register their interest directly and seamlessly.
Across all platforms, our initial messaging will focus on raising awareness of the problem and inviting businesses to learn more. As we build a critical mass of interested parties, the messaging will shift to a more direct call to action, inviting them to formally join the prospective claimant group to seek redress. This phased approach ensures our campaign is not only powerful and persuasive but also navigates the sensitive regulatory landscape for collective actions effectively.