CATALONIA -- Catalan News Agency - More than 1,400 SMEs shout "enough" to the Spanish and Catalan fiscal measures "discriminating" against them

Catalan News Agency - More than 1,400 SMEs shout "enough" to the Spanish and Catalan fiscal measures "discriminating" against them

More than 1,400 SMEs shout "enough" to the Spanish and Catalan fiscal measures "discriminating" against them

CNA

Barcelona (ACN).- On Wednesday evening the main Catalan
small- and medium-sized enterprises association, Pimec, organised a
protest conference in Barcelona at which they accused the Spanish and
Catalan Governments of politically and financially "discriminating"
against them. With the slogan #diguemprou (#wesayenough), 1,400 owners
of SMEs and self-employed workers protested against the economic
measures put in place by both Governments. They accused them of not
taking SMEs into account and only working for the interests of large
corporations. The protest was explicitly backed by 220 guilds and
associations, as well as by 9 professional associations and that of
self-employed workers. Participants emphasised the need to support SMEs
and the self-employed, who are the ones creating most of the jobs and
producing the largest share of Spanish and Catalan GDP. They insisted
that many SMEs have been obliged to shut down business or are running
out of breath due to this lack of support. For instance by not having
enough access to loans, by paying too-high social contributions or by
having to deal with some of the highest energy costs in Europe. They
issued a manifesto compiling a list of grievances, split into 7
different areas: entrepreneurship; loans and funding; taxation; labour
market; energy; training and employment; and internationalisation. The
event was strictly economic but at the end a large number of
participants start to shout slogans in favour of Catalonia's
independence from Spain, gathering a loud round of applause. In a press
conference held after the event, Pimec's President, Josep González,
insisted that the meeting was strictly economic and criticised those who
had called for independence. However, back in October 2012, Pimec made a survey among its members which showed that 66.8% of them supported independence from Spain.

Pimec's event was a desperate cry against the economic policies of
both the Spanish and the Catalan Governments. At the event participants
recalled that in the 7 years of economic crisis, 65,000 SMEs have shut
down in Catalonia. In addition, 80,000 self-employed workers have
stopped their activity and 350,000 jobs have been lost.

Participants particularly criticised political corruption, delays in
paying service providers, increases in taxes and social contributions,
and the treatment given to the banking sector. They criticised the fact
that despite Spanish banks have received billions of public money,
access to credit and loans has not increased for SMEs. Participants
emphasised that funding and access to credit is essential for any
company, including those in good shape. Some of these demands were
included in a manifesto, which was widely approved by the more than
1,400 participants in the Diguem Prou meeting.

The Catalan Government stresses they have limited fiscal powers

On Thursday, the Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip
Puig, responded to Pimec's event. Puig stated that he fully understands
the demands of SMEs but that, unfortunately, the Catalan Government has
very limited room for manoeuvre. In a radio interview, Puig explained
that the Catalan Government has been making efforts to pay providers on
time, but he regretted the lack of liquidity. The Catalan Minister
acknowledged the problems in paying on time and was sorry for the delays
affecting companies. However, Puig insisted that the Catalan Government
was dependant on the money being transferred by the Spanish Executive
and that its fiscal powers were also very limited in the current legal
framework.

Pimec wants to meet Rajoy and Mas

Pimec's president, Josep González, said on Thursday that the
organisation he chairs wanted to meet with the Spanish Prime Minister,
Mariano Rajoy, and the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas.
González insisted on the need to explain the demands of SMEs and the
self-employed. Pimec would ask Mas to speed up administrative
bureaucracy. The SME organisation would ask Rajoy to be consistent with
the Labour Market Reform and reduce the social contributions that
companies have to pay for each worker. Pimec regretted that in the last
year and a half "there have been 4 significant increases of social
security contributions". González said it was inexplicable to undertake a
labour market reform "to make salaries more competitive", which "helps
companies to export", but at the same time to increase social
contributions.

More on

Artur Mas, Bailout, Banks, Business, Business Association, Catalan Companies, Catalan Economy, Catalan Government, Credits, Economy, Employment, Felip Puig, Finances, Financial Crisis, Financial Institution, Financial Markets, Jobs, Josep González, Mariano Rajoy, Pimec, SMEs, Social Security, Spanish economy, Spanish Government, Taxation, Taxes, Unemployment

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The
#diguemprou event protested against the political and fiscal
discriminations of SMEs and independent workers (by J. R. Torné)

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