The 'institutional partner', the way for large companies to enter the Chamber

BarcelonaSince Josep Santacreu was sworn in as president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce in October 2023, with the clear objective—among others—of "recovering relations with large companies" within the institution, there has been a steady stream of new collaborations under the "institutional partner" category. In fact, since this category was reinstated in September 2024—which already existed during the time of Miquel Valls, prior to the arrival of the pro-independence list Herramientas de País to the institution—the first company to join this category was Ibercaja, the latest being Indra, in an agreement signed just a week ago, according to the Chamber itself.

In total, there are now seven large companies that are institutional partners of the Chamber: Caja Ingenieros, Grant Thornton, Damm, Colonial, Wolters Kluwer, as well as Ibercaja and Indra. According to the institution, "the role of the institutional member seeks to bring the corporation closer to companies and involve them in the various initiatives it leads." Sources at the institution explain that, in reality, "large companies have always been represented in the Chamber, beyond the so-called silver chairs, and this role has been revived to accommodate the need some large companies were demanding to feel closer to the institution."

In fact, one of the criticisms often leveled during the previous legislature, led first by Joan Canadell and then by Mònica Roca, was that large companies "did not feel sufficiently represented" in the Chamber. "The fact that some major events, such as the Dinars Cambra—legendary in the pre-Herramientas de País era—or the decision to reduce the number of paid seats in the plenary session from 14 to 2, fueled this rhetoric," explains a member of the institution. The fact is that during the previous term, some of these events were discontinued, but this also coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, so "priority was given to carrying out actions to help small and medium-sized businesses," which reduced the scope for action.

Be that as it may, the Santacreu government has found in the institutional partner position a way to reestablish ties with large corporations. These collaboration agreements are "tailored, based on what each company wants," so there is no fixed monetary amount for being an institutional partner; rather, it depends on what is requested. The projects carried out jointly "are of all kinds"; with Indra, for example, a small committee holds breakfasts once a month with highly relevant people to analyze current issues, and Indra sponsors it.

The agreement to become an institutional partner is finalized with the president and management, so it is not a position that requires the approval of the full Chamber. "It's a very organic process; companies naturally contact the Chamber and propose projects," explains the institution. "Some want to be part of working committees, to conduct studies or analyses, or to participate in lobbying," among other examples.

The Return of the Silver Chairs

The Chamber assures that the status of institutional member is independent of the silver chairs, although this was the main means of collaboration and proximity with large companies. As a reminder, the silver chairs or paid chairs are the seats in the Chamber's plenary session held by companies with the largest financial contributions—and therefore not elected at the ballot box—with a minimum annual income of 75,000 euros. The existence of these seats was one of the main criticisms of the Country Tools group, which finally managed, in one of the last plenary sessions of its mandate, to reduce them from 14 to just 2, which currently exist. occupy the RACC and Criteria Caixa.

The Spanish law on Chambers of Commerce establishes that a minimum number of seats in each chamber must be occupied by these silver chairs, where the minimum for Barcelona is two and the maximum is 14. The previous plenary session managed to reduce them to a minimum, which was a major blow to theestablishment and one of the major clashes between Herramientas and its rivals, and it is known that the current Santacreu government would like to recover them. The expansion to more than two seats cannot be carried out until the next term, although it should be approved before the end of the current one. "It has not been decided how many silver chairs will be reinstated, but it must be decided and voted on before the end of the legislature, in one of the last plenary sessions," they assure from the institution. Meanwhile, the Chamber will expand its base of institutional members to maintain the link with the large company.