Cañete claims to Brussels "avoid bureaucratic overload" for SMEs

BarcelonaThe president of Pimec, Antoni Cañete, has called on Brussels for business regulation that is "simpler, more proportionate and adapted" for SMEs. The leader of the Catalan association of small and medium-sized enterprises met this Thursday with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and warned of the "bureaucratic overload" that the business fabric suffers from, which "hinders its competitiveness and growth".

In a meeting between the head of the Community executive and the vice-presidents of SME United, the European association of SME employers' associations, Cañete reiterated one of the central points of his governance action at the helm of Pimec: "We want the premise of thinking of the small ones first, SMEs, to become a transversal and binding criterion in the drafting of European legislation".

In this regard, he called for European institutions to "start from the daily reality of the smallest companies" when drafting economic and business legislation. Among other issues, he put on the table training policies "adapted to the business reality"; more support for investment in small businesses and energy policies that "guarantee stability and affordable costs" for the private sector.

"It is urgent" to reduce late payments

Cañete has conveyed to the president of the commission the need to guarantee legal payment terms for SMEs. The leader of Pimec, who also chairs the Multisectoral Platform against Default, has stated that late expense payments "affect the liquidity and viability of thousands of European SMEs".

Thus, Cañete has urged the EU institutions to "strengthen control and sanction mechanisms to ensure compliance" with the payment terms established by law. In his opinion, it is necessary to "prevent companies from continuing to act as involuntary financiers for large corporations and administrations" that allow themselves a more comfortable liquidity margin when they do not meet their financial obligations to small and medium-sized enterprises at the rate set by regulation. A recent report prepared by the same PMcM indicated that 85% of large companies pay their suppliers late.

To put an end to this phenomenon, Cañete has championed the future European Regulation against Default, which has been stalled for two years in the European Council due to a lack of agreement between countries. The leader of Pimec has reminded Von der Leyen that she included in her annual work priorities the commitment to seek an agreement with the Twenty-seven to "eradicate default".