Academic Publications
Minimum Professional Fees / MEF
Minimum Equivalent Fees. A proposal to re-establish income equality for equivalent work
Author: Ricardo Alvira Baeza Published in: Italian Labour Law e-Journal, Issue 1, Vol. 19 (2026), ISSN 1561-8048, Miscellaneous section DOI: 10.60923/issn.1561-8048/23568
A double-blind peer-reviewed academic article that develops and formalises the legal framework of Minimum Equivalent Fees (HME/MEF), building on the paper presented at the 1st Congress of Architects of Madrid (COAM) in 2025.
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The article was originally written and published in English (linked above); the Spanish translation was made by the author himself and closely follows the published text.
Honorarios Mínimos Profesionales. Un elefante (legislativo) en la habitación
(“Minimum professional fees: a (legislative) elephant in the room” — Spanish only)
Author: Ricardo Alvira Baeza · PhD Architect, Professional Association Reg. No. 13148 · PhD in Political and Administrative Science Paper presented at: 1st Congress of Architects of Madrid (COAM), 2025
The origin document of this research. It reviews the evolution of worker-remuneration regulation in Spain over the last century, for both employees and the self-employed, and sets out the current disconnect between architects’ professional fees and sufficient remuneration under article 35 of the Spanish Constitution. This document is the basis on which the academic article Minimum Equivalent Fees (2026) was later developed; the article itself expressly cites it as the work it expands upon. It has not been translated into English; the peer-reviewed article above is its fuller English-language development.
Other related texts
Ensuring adequate remuneration for vulnerable solo self-employed through collective bargaining – EU antitrust prohibition as a limit?
Published in: Italian Labour Law e-Journal
View the article (Italian Labour Law e-Journal) →
Related formal submissions
The article and the conference paper have been cited as grounds in the formal submissions to Spanish administrations (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business; Spanish Ombudsman).
See the full timeline in Advocacy →
Complementary regulatory and case-law texts (EU directives, CJEU judgments, the Spanish Constitution, CNMC resolutions) are collected in the Legal Framework section.
Last updated: September 2026