Pimec will enter CES with Ferran Bel as representative

BarcelonaPimec has achieved one of its goals: to become part of the Economic and Social Council (CES), an advisory body to the Spanish government in the socioeconomic and labor sphere. The employers' association, which will hold the representation together with the organization for SMEs of the Balearic Islands (Pimeb), has received a letter from the Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, inviting them to appoint who will occupy their seat in the renewal of the CES promoted by Díaz. Ferran Bel, permanent representative of this business organization in Madrid and former senator and deputy for the PDeCAT, will take the position.

The ministry has opted to implement one of its commitments before the elections through regulatory changes to incorporate the most representative regional employers' associations into the CES, as is the case with Pimec. This initiative was part of a prior pact with Junts. The major employers' association CEOE and Conpymes, a former ally of Pimec –of which it was a founder, but later the relationship cooled–, oppose these regional representations in the advisory body.

The CES, presided over by Antón Costas, tried to shield itself to stop this incorporation, but the ministry has forced these changes. Until now, the body was made up of 20 members from unions, such as the UGT and CCOO; 20 from employers' associations –CEOE / Cepyme–, and 20 from diverse sectors and experts, among others. The entry of Pimec into the CES is part of the objectives of the organization presided over by Antoni Cañete, which wants to be present in all bodies and entities that have to do with social dialogue and that deal with issues that affect SMEs.