The Association of Manufacturers and Distributors (Aecoc) has asked the Government to leave the next general elections to take measures to promote the economic development of the country through a regulatory and fiscal framework that benefits the competitiveness of companies and values their paper.
The employers’ association, which brings together more than 33,000 companies in the consumer goods sector, has requested that “the necessary lines of action be activated to encourage the increase in the business fabric” and has highlighted the position of companies as “main generators of employment” .
From Aecoc they have proposed, among other measures, the repeal of the plastic tax. The business association proposes to stop the imposition of this tax until the rest of the member states of the European Union have a similar one.
A new regulatory framework
Regarding the consumer goods sector, the document recalled that its value chain “has played a very important role in combating the instability and uncertainty of recent years”, guaranteeing supply during the pandemic and reducing its margins “so as not to punish more to consumers” in the highest cost inflation in recent decades.
For the promotion of business activity, Aecoc has claimed the need for the next Executive “to ensure a regulatory framework and taxation that are not a brake on the competitiveness of companies”, since it urges an “administrative competitiveness model , regulatory and fiscal”.
Among the administrative competitiveness measures, the mass consumption employers’ association has proposed “reducing the overload generated by administrative procedures that do not add value to the industry, distribution or the final consumer.”
From the perspective of regulatory competitiveness, manufacturers and distributors have proposed that the links linked to European directives and regulations “do not increase the objectives or requirements set by the European Union”; a legislative harmonization “that allows companies to operate throughout the State with minimum common rules and without duplication that generate necessary costs”; and “regulations that facilitate the incorporation of technological tools based on international standards.”
Regarding fiscal competitiveness, the document raises issues such as “minimizing territorial discrepancies derived from tax policies”, “not penalizing companies with physical establishments” and “basing the implementation of new taxes on complete studies and criteria”.
They ask for the start-up of the Mediterranean corridor
In addition to these general approaches, the employers’ association has proposed specific measures for the fields of logistics and transport, sustainability and health, education and employment, commercial administration and commercial theft.
Thus, among the Measures for Logistics and Transport, they request the approval of the 44 Tons of Cargo Vehicles for the Transport of Goods, the Commissioning of the Mediterranean Corridor and the Harmonization of low emission zones and measures for Distribution Urban Merchandise.
Regarding sustainability and health, the employer demands consumer information and awareness campaigns to value the importance and benefits of caring for food, as well as avoiding the use of taxation as an instrument to change eating habits or lifestyles of consumers and activate help and advice mechanisms for companies to comply with the requirements of the future law against food waste, should it be approved.
It also demands that the Royal Decree on Packaging and Packaging Waste be reconsidered in line with the objectives set by the European Union and the repeal of the plastic tax and, secondarily, postpone its entry into force until all EU states have a equivalent tax.
The large consumer employers’ association urges the new Executive to eliminate the limit of 400 euros on multi-repeat theft and create regulations to prevent infractions and crimes against companies and consumers in digital environments.
Regarding education and employment, Aecoc requests bonuses for companies with students in Dual Training and that training practices in the company are regulated from the educational, labor and business fields.
While with regard to commercial administration, request that the operation of the Registry of Food Contracts be modified to avoid administrative overloads for companies, the development of the regulation on electronic invoicing based on international standards and that technological solutions be implemented to increase information on products to consumers and increase the transparency of the value chain.
