With the spotlight of the day installed in the Congress of Deputies and the investiture of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, It seems difficult to escape from the political issue. And that could have happened to the president of the National Association of Large Distribution Companies (ANGED), Alfonso Merry del Val. During his speech at the annual meeting of the employers’ association, Merry del Val focused the target of his criticism on the “endless political battle“which he has blamed for resulting in a “paralysis of the reforms and an impoverishment of the economy” and has asked “not to marginalize businessmen.”
Without any mention of the high inflation of the food or the question of high prices of products like olive oil, Merry del Val has disfigured that “the confusing political debate” with “accumulation of disputes, impulses of partisan confrontation and chained crises” “has monopolized almost exclusively the action of the Government and has relegated the analysis of the productive system Spanish and measures to do it more efficient and competitive“.
“It seems that the companies have been reduced to a set of passive subjects whose only function is pay taxes and social contributions to finance the Budgets. The business benefits are seriously questioned, forgetting that without them investment is not possible. Consequently, without private investment it would be impossible for the State to employ the almost 17 million Spaniards hired by companies, 83% of the employment in our country,” added the leader of the association that brings together supermarkets such as CarrefourCostco, Eroski, Alcampo either The English Court
The head of the large distribution employers’ association has defended “do not marginalize entrepreneurs because they are the foundation on which it is built the wealth of a countrythe pillar to sustain investment and public services” and has asked to improve productivity, “one of the main structural problems” to which he has put figures: According to Eurostat, since 2009 productivity in Spain has advanced 10 points less than the European average and since 2019 3.8 points have been lost, opening a gap of 5 points with the European Union partners.
At this point, Merry del Val has begun to list one by one those areas where it would be “essential to act“. Among them, “less and better” regulation, a “more flexible” labor market, updating the educational system, addressing demographic growth with a “pact on pensions, birth rates and immigration”, “competitive taxation” and greater coordination with the European Union. “I think there are enough reasons to build a broad consensus on the reforms that allow increasing productivity and resuming the path of convergence with Europe,” he concluded.
Along the same lines, the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, has warned that companies have to “make money” and has called for “stability, dialogue and unity of the country.” “ANDIt’s ridiculous to talk about the unity of Europe and not our country. We are talking about a framework that is the Constitution, the separation of powers and the parliamentary monarchy. We ask for stability in our country and for everyone to work in their space,” he said.