The family business yesterday demanded from the Central Government "moderation and dialogue to build a framework of stable relations". It was during the opening speech of the XXVI National Congress of the Family Business delivered in Bilbao by the president of the IEF, Andrés Sendagorta. At the annual meeting of the Institut de l'Empresa Familiar (IEF), for the fifth consecutive year, the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, did not participate. The last time was in 2018.
The businessman also wanted to launch a warning in the middle of the investiture negotiations about the need to use the "constitutional framework" as a reference to act. The president of the business lobby claimed in his address to avoid "polarization". In recent years, the family business has felt attacked by comments from members of the Sánchez Government in which they criticized different Spanish businessmen and, in addition, there is uneasiness about the increase in taxation, for example, with the new tax to the great fortunes or the increase in social contributions.
"We need to encourage employment, and taxing it does not seem like the best way to achieve this", reflected the president of the institute in relation to this increase in contributions. On the contrary, Sendagorta asked in this matter to review "taxation to achieve, among all, that the net salary that reaches the workers' pockets is as close as possible to the gross cost assumed by the companies".
Sendagorta, who also chairs his family company Sener, criticized the education policy of the Spanish Government. In his opinion, "more time is spent, in our public debate, on emphasizing ideological traits than on underpinning the real goals that should be pursued by our educational programs."
The businessman regretted that there are different profiles that are not found in the market, such as engineers, but also staff for the hospitality sector.
The Family Business Institute, through its president, whose mandate ends next year, also claimed its role in society and said that this is not always shared by everyone. "The legitimate pride that business families have for the work done must be shared by society and, specifically, by our rulers", he pointed out.
Regarding the economic situation, Sendagorta assured that the main imbalance is unemployment, which is also the main cause of inequality in Spain.
On the opening day, the Minister of Social Security, José Luis Escrivá, in a short welcome speech, praised the role of family businesses in job creation and the application of corporate social responsibility measures. He also remembered that the big companies in the world are family-based.
The inauguration ceremony was closed by King Felipe, who asked to facilitate development in territories "more isolated or far from urban centers". According to his opinion, the "quality services, education, health and infrastructures" must be improved.
Yesterday, the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, also participated in the Congress, who repeated the scheme he used last year in Cáceres and opted for lower taxes. The politician insisted that he should bet on "contained taxes" because - according to his opinion - lowering taxation ends up increasing revenue. "In Spain, 40 tax figures have gone up", he pointed out. In his speech, Feijóo recalled that the communities governed by the PP have reduced taxes to the value of 2,000 million euros. An amount that comes from the reduction of Personal Income Tax, Inheritance and Heritage. Regarding the Next Generation European funds, the president of the PP was very critical of the Central Government because he believes that the distribution of resources is not publicized. Feijóo agreed with Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu on the need to territorialize the management of European funds.
The day closed with a round table on the business perspective. In this debate, the president of the Cercle d'Economia, Jaume Guardiola, warned of the loss of GDP per capita in recent years. Íñigo Fernándes de Mesa, of the CEOE, warned of the high taxation for employers.
