The State has to increase its economic support for companies. Foment del Treball demanded this Thursday more public aid so that “Spain gets closer to the European average”, since in 2021 said aid represented 2.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the European Union (EU) and only 1.69% of the GDP in Spain, as reported by the employers’ association in a note.
To argue its claim, Foment del Treball has collected a report from the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) that shows that in Spain there is “a lower relative contribution” and that the difference is growing more compared to the most industrialized countries.
For example, Germany reached a level of state aid of 3.37% of its GDP in 2021, or France reached 2.53%, while the European average was 2.30%. In the list of EU-27 countries, Spain is in position number 19, a level that Foment considers “poor”.
In this sense, the business organization chaired by Josep Sánchez Llibre has indicated that the weight of tax deductions as a State aid mechanism “should be increased”, since in 2021 it was 5.61% compared to 13.82%. of the EU average.
“Hence, we understand that the fiscal instrument is rarely used in the Spanish case, unlike the European average, and that it should be strengthened, since it facilitates the management of aid by not being subject to a deadline like subsidies, and with less bureaucracy and delay in its implementation,” the employers’ association stated in its statement.
On the other hand, Foment also advocates reinforcing State aid for environmental and energy efficiency policies, which are at levels of 41% of the total, compared to 55% in the EU-27.
In addition, the employers’ association warned about the relative importance of aid related to the pandemic in Spain, which reaches up to 61% of the total, compared to 57% for the EU as a whole.
That is to say, the Spanish State presents a greater concentration of temporary aid at the expense of more regular aid, which does not depend on the health emergency situation. For this reason, the businessmen explained, “it would be convenient” to reinforce public aid policies by the central government so that they are more stable and continuous and help develop the economic cycle. Otherwise, is the message, there is a risk of suffering a competitive disadvantage compared to the rest of European countries.
In numbers, state aid in Spain totaled just over 20,000 million euros in 2021, when in Germany the figure was six times higher (more than 120,000 million). But the EU country that has the highest percentage of aid in relation to its GDP is Malta: 4.58%.
