Historical changes

The Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC Barcelona) began as a project of the Catalan Family Foundation (FFC), and the University can only be understood within the context of this group.

The Catalan Family Foundation began procedures in 1995 to set up the University, and they were approved by the Parliament of Catalonia on 25 September 1997, by Law 11/1997 of 1 October, in Recognition of the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (DOGC number 2487 of 2 October). With this approval, UIC Barcelona acquired the legal status of a private university, and was governed by Organic Law 11/1983 of 25 August on university reform, which was then in force.

In 2001, throughout Spain, there was legislation on major university reform, which came into force with Organic Law 6/2001 of 21 December on universities, repealing previous legislation. The new law introduced a major change to private universities, removing the legal status they previously held and forcing them to adopt one of the legal statuses permitted by law.

Consequently, in July 2003 the Board of Trustees of the FFC, by virtue of the powers conferred by the University Statutes, as well as the University Board of Trustees, proceeded to adapt the University to the new legislation, agreeing to adopt the legal status of a private foundation, subject to the legislation of the Government of Catalonia, connecting the foundation with the university, and appointing the Board of Trustees as the supreme governing body.

After completing the relevant procedures, the Parliament of Catalonia, via Decree 170/2003 of 8 July, approved the Organisation and Running Guidelines of the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Private Foundation (DOGC no. 3929 of 21 July 2003), which were approved as the Statutes of the foundation, and were authorised by a Resolution by the Ministry of Justice and the Interior of the Government of Catalonia, dated 3 November 2003, registering it on the Foundations Register under number 1898.

As a result of the change in status of UIC Barcelona to become a private foundation, it was subjected to dual legislation: (i) the legislation on universities as a university and (ii) the legislation on foundations as foundations, and therefore from that date onwards it had to meet the requirements of the two laws, both formally and substantively, and especially in reference to accountability for each of the respective fields.

The Universitat Internacional de Catalunya is included on the special tax regime of Title II of Law 49/2002 of 23 December, on the taxation of non-profit organisations and tax incentives for patronage, in order to enjoy the tax benefits granted by law to foundations.

In 2011, as a result of new legislation passed with reference to universities and foundations, on March 15, the board approved a new amendment to the Organisation and Running Statutes and Guidelines of UIC Barcelona to accommodate the new legal requirements. The Organisation and Running Guidelines were approved by Government Agreement 107/2011 of 5 July, and were published on the DOGC on 8 July 2011. They were approved by the Directorate General for Law and Legal Entities in the Resolution of 21 October 2011. 

In 2013, a new modification was made to adapt the Statutes to Law 7/2012 of 15 June, an amendment in the third book of the Civil Code of Catalonia, which was approved by Resolution 5 August 2013 of the Directorate General for Law and Legal Entities, with the modification to be accepted as a university approved by GOV AGREEMENT/47/2014 and published in DOGC No. 6591 dated 27 March.

In 2016, the vice-rectorates and University services were reorganised with the aim of obtaining a cross-disciplinary overview of the issues and decisions to be made as well as greater professionalisation in terms of governing the university. In order to provide legal legitimacy to the reorganisation of the governing board, it was necessary to modify some of the articles in the statutes and rules of organisation and operation of the University. This modification was registered in the Foundations Registry through a resolution by the General Directorate of Law and Legal Entities dated November 18, 2016 and the amendment approved as a university through agreement GOV/46/2017, of 11 April and published in DOGC No. 7.350 dated 13/04/2017. 

Subsequently, there was a further modification of the statutes and rules of organisation and operation in order to adjust the functioning of the governing bodies to the needs of the University. The latest amendment that led to a reworking of the statutes and rules of organisation and operation was approved by the Board of Trustees of the Foundation on 14 July 2020. This amendment was registered in the Foundations Register through a resolution of the Directorate General of Law and Legal Entities on 15 December 2020 and the amendment approved as a university through agreement GOV/23/2022, of 15 February and published in DOGC No. 8608 dated 17/02/2022.