The president of the European employers' association, Fredrik Persson, places as a priority an improvement in the competitiveness of companies that has to be achieved with fewer regulations, working more hours and avoiding attacks on employers. Persson is in Madrid this afternoon to present to the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, the "Madrid Declaration", a document with the list of businessmen's recommendations for the Spanish presidency of the European Union.
For now, the president of BusinessEurope has already advanced his priorities at a breakfast this morning at the Nueva Economía Forum in Madrid. To begin with, stop the excess regulation that hinders the proper functioning of companies. He argues that we must not only fight against inflation, but also against regulatory inflation, the excess of regulations with which "we are placing new regulations on top of the old ones, and the cost of doing business in Europe is very high."
The thesis of the president of the European employers' association is that "the only formula to achieve social progress is through economic progress" and that the competitiveness of companies must be prioritized because it leads to economic progress and this is what allows us to continue progressing socially. He also adds that to achieve this competitiveness "we need to work more hours, not less."
On this point, the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, has specified that what they are looking for is greater flexibility of schedules and negotiated through social dialogue. "What the president of BusinessEurope conveys is that what companies need is more flexibility. That is, more hours can be worked on some days, and in the end there is a time control of hours during the year and what companies need It depends on how the demands are, the production, etc., that this possibility exists. But, we will always raise this within the bipartite social dialogue", Garamendi affirmed.
For his part, Persson has also come out in defense of Spanish businessmen, declaring himself concerned about the attacks they have suffered from the Spanish government. He considers that it is "shooting himself in the foot" to attack entrepreneurs, because in order to have a strong and resilient Europe, you have to start with having a competitive industry, and here he gives entrepreneurs a fundamental role.
Finally, Antonio Garamendi, who presented the president of BusinessEurope at breakfast, called for moderation from the political class. “Spain is a country of moderate people… Honestly, when I see these winds that one day could pick up storms, I have to say that I don't like it. I believe that it is legitimate to carry out electoral campaigns, but I would convey that the Spanish are moderate people and we like tranquility", Garamendi stated.
