He considers that the figure of the businessman must be “respected and protected”, after the “attacks” suffered recently
MADRID, 5 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Círculo de Empresarios has proposed to the future legislators and governors who will leave the general elections on July 23 the voluntary delay of the retirement age, accompanied by an incentive system, and the elimination of special taxes on banks and energy companies and wealth tax.
The Círculo de Empresarios has launched this Wednesday its ‘Open letter to future Legislators and Governors’ in which it proposes to future legislators and rulers who will come out of the general elections on July 23, those actions and reforms that, in their opinion , should be undertaken urgently in the course of the next legislature.
Regarding the recent reform of the pension system, he says that “it does not ensure its viability, it only delays the problem, it is profoundly unsupportive and will require a great sacrifice from active citizens”. For this reason, he insists on a voluntary delay in the retirement age accompanied by a system of incentives and on promoting private savings and investment.
The proposal of the Círculo de Empresarios would extend the retirement age to a section between 68 and 72 years. “If you retire earlier, there would be a slight reduction in your pension and if you retire later, an incentive,” the organization’s president, Manuel Pérez-Sala, explained at a press conference.
Regarding the latest labor reform, the Círculo de Empresarios has pointed out that “far from solving the problems, it has slowed down the rate of job creation, has hidden unemployment and has harmed flexibility”.
For this reason, employers are calling for a “brave, agreed upon with the social agents” reform, which provides the system with greater flexibility, and brings Spanish regulations closer to those of neighboring countries and to the new economic and labor realities.
This would happen, according to the organization, by reviewing the compensation costs, bringing them closer to the European average, raising them for temporary contracts and lowering them for permanent contracts to favor stable hiring. They have also advocated creating an individual savings account under the “Austrian backpack” model that would receive regular contributions from the current contribution received by Social Security for unemployment.
In tax matters, the Círculo de Empresarios considers that investment and savings should be encouraged and believes that the new tax figures must be agreed upon and harmonized with Europe to avoid competitive distortions and relocation of tax bases.
“It is essential to improve the efficiency of the tax system; collection in Spain is below the EU average, despite having higher tax rates, due to the high unemployment rate, the size of the underground economy and a complex VAT design”, stressed the organization.
For this reason, the organization has proposed to reduce the social contributions paid by the company, eliminate the special taxes on banks and energy companies, eliminate the wealth tax and simplify the design of VAT by reassigning the tax rates taking into account the structure productive.
It has also urged fiscal policy to be prudent, rigorous, effective, and efficient in order to promote stable growth. “We cannot spend without measure on ideological, electoral or doubtful policies, since we are harming the financing capacity of our Welfare State and transferring current spending to future generations”, stressed the organization’s president.
In this sense, they point out that the State has to accept that the collection capacity of the Spanish economy is limited, and that the weight of public spending must be around 40% of GDP.
For its part, the Círculo de Empresarios considers that the State must develop a housing policy compatible with the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the constitution. Thus, they propose expanding the supply of land, promoting the construction of affordable rental housing and finding formulas for public-private collaboration in those cities with unsatisfied demand, as well as streamlining administrative procedures to reduce costs for developers and consumers.
In energy matters, the organization believes that all kinds of intervention in the market should be avoided, or reduced to the essential minimum. In addition, they see it as necessary to work to achieve social acceptance of the transition and the consensus of the Administration, the business sector and the citizenry.
“The need to have secure and flexible energy in the best conditions, reduce volatility and facilitate price stability for consumers involves extending the useful life of already installed generation and the convenience of promoting market development term and bilateral contracting”, they have reiterated.
