The Parliament approves the chambers law more than a decade later

BarcelonaThe Parliament has approved this Wednesday the law on chambers of commerce. In this way, Catalonia adapts twelve years later the basic state law on chambers of commerce, approved in 2014. Since then, the Principality had been one of the few territories of the Spanish state without an updated chamber law. The rule passed the scrutiny of the chamber with 114 votes in favor, 11 abstentions and 9 votes against.

The rule was able to reach the plenary session of the Parliament weeks after the unanimous endorsement granted by the Statutory Guarantees Council (CGE) at the beginning of August. The body considered that the law is in accordance with the Statute and the Spanish Constitution, in an opinion requested by the parliamentary groups of Comuns and the CUP. Among other issues, the CGE assessed the fit of the memberships with the highest voluntary contribution, known as silver seats, which were expanded from two to ten last July.

One of the central aspects of the new chamber regulations is the financing of the thirteen Catalan chambers. The rule establishes that the Government and the General Council of Chambers must sign, within a period of six months, a multi-year agreement of three years. The Generalitat, in accordance with the law, must provide for financing that will grow progressively during the three academic years: three million in the first year, five million in the second and up to seven million in the third.

Fit with unions and employers' associations

One of the main obstacles to moving forward with the chamber regulations has been the concern of employers' associations and unions regarding the role established for public law corporations. In fact, at the end of 2023, Foment del Treball, Pimec, CCOO and the UGT signed a letter warning of "fundamental issues" in the chambers' proposal that affected "the institutional balance of social dialogue and its preservation as a public good".

In this sense, the regulation establishes that the functions of the chambers will be carried out "respecting the functions and powers of representation, defense, and participation of the interests of workers and the business community that are legally attributed to them"; especially in terms of collective bargaining and social dialogue.

The employers' association Pimec has thus welcomed the fact that the regulation advances in "the definition and clarification of the role that corresponds" to the chambers within the economic ecosystem. In a statement, the association of small and medium-sized enterprises welcomes the final text, which "contributes to organizing and providing more legal certainty to the space for participation, representation, and business dialogue".

However, the entity presided over by Antonio Cañete maintains its rejection of the expansion of the silver chairs, just as it already expressed at the time of the expansion. The new paid memberships, Pimec warns, "could end up altering the balance of sectoral representation resulting from the electoral process". In this sense, they demand "transparent, democratic, and representative criteria" to define the chamber plenary.