Sumar is pressuring its Government partner to incorporate into the draft Industry Law, which the Council of Ministers plans to approve this Tuesday, the obligation for companies to return all the money for the aid received from the State (through the ERTE or the one known as the RED Mechanism) when there are relocations.
The training led by the second vice president of the Government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, also proposes that these companies be prohibited, in these cases, from accessing labor flexibility measures: collective layoffs, substantial modification of working conditions and non-application of working conditions provided for in the collective agreement.
From Sumar they explain that the Ministry of Labor has been making different observations on this project since last June. In recent days, Sumar has urged the Government partner to include the principle of conditionality in industrial policy, lower the limits for the return of aid received and promote the centrality of the ecological transition in industrial policy. Although the negotiation is in an advanced phase, Sumar “regrets” that there is still no agreement with one day left for its debate in the Council of Ministers.
Sources from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism explain that the rule regulates that any company that wants to end its industrial activity in our country must announce it 9 months in advance to the Government and in the case of having received public aid of more than 3 million of euros, “they have to return them if they end their activity before the established period.”
Until this Monday, the refund scale managed by Jordi Hereu’s ministry was 6 million. It is not ruled out that the final text still includes some modification regarding the final amount and whether the relocation “is done with or without agreement.”
The Council of Ministers plans to approve this Tuesday the bill, which was presented as a draft in 2022 by then-Minister Reyes Maroto. Sources from the department headed by Hereu describe this rule as “historic.” They emphasize that it will be the result of “consensus” with the social agents. The text will be the first sectoral law of this century. It will replace the current law, which dates back to 1992. The future Law on Industry and Strategic Autonomy, which will be the first sectoral law for this activity in 32 years, “aims to ensure investments made in Spain,” the ministry emphasizes.
The text that the Executive will now send to the Cortes should be the starting point for the creation of a reserve of products related to sectors such as pharmaceuticals, defense, energy or raw materials.
The bill establishes the creation of this Strategic Reserve based on National Industrial Production Capacities, called RECAPI, to ensure the supply of essential or strategic resources in times of crisis or pandemics. “This is an instrument, a fund, of products and strategic capabilities that can be mobilized quickly in the face of a crisis situation,” underlines the Ministry of Industry.
The preliminary project aims to “ensure that the industry can face today’s technological challenges and achieve the objectives that we set for ourselves as a government and that Europe sets for us” in terms of industrialization, the Hereu ministry points out.
The text, highlights Industria, “has received contributions from the entire society: companies, social agents, public administrations and the rest of the sectors involved.” It has had a favorable opinion from the Council of State since last November 28 and has been submitted to the observations of unions, employers or the Economic and Social Council (CES).
The objective is that “it represents a before and after for the Spanish industry, that it provides our industry with effective instruments to face technological challenges”, and specifically Artificial Intelligence (AI), “and promote reindustrialization, innovation and the transformation of our productive fabric.”
Among the main novelties of the text is the creation of a State Council for Industrial Policy and the so-called strategic industrial projects, to facilitate the procedures for those investments that are of general interest for the country.
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