Two conclusions can be drawn from yesterday’s meeting of the Spanish employers’ association. The first and main one is that the current president, Antonio Garamendi, has designed a tailor-made suit and that from now on he has three years to decide whether to wear it. The second was the staging with an embrace of the improvement of the relationship between Garamendi and the president of Foment, Josep Sánchez Llibre, in contrast to the confrontations they had just a few months ago, specifically until the November elections.
Garamendi’s suit takes the form of a change in the statutes of the CEOE, with the removal of the limit of two consecutive terms for the president of the employers’ association, which paves the way for him to be able to run again, in addition to a tightening of the conditions and guarantees that the candidates must present.
At yesterday’s meeting, the executive committee of the employers’ association gave almost unanimous support to the proposal to revoke the two-term limit for the president of the CEOE in force since 2014. It had the explicit vote in favor of Foment del Treball, the Madrid employers’ association (CEIM), the Valencian employers’ association (CEV), Cepyme and ATA, as well as other organizations such as Seopan, CNC, Confemetal, AEB and Unespa. There were only two dissenting votes. The no of Ametic, from the digital industry sector, and the abstention of the employers’ association of pharmacy offices (Fefe). In both cases, they justified it because their own statutes include the prohibition of chaining together more than two mandates.
From the executive committee, he highlighted the intervention of Josep Sánchez Llibre, who explained that in the meeting held by Foment on the 12th of this month there were various positions, with more weight than those opposed to abolishing the limit of two mandates, which Foment, on the other hand, maintains, but leaving carte blanche to its president to add to the change of CEOE statutes if a majority supported it. This was the case and as such, Sánchez Llibre also gave his approval to the change. In addition, he took the opportunity to emphasize his loyalty to the current president of the CEOE, to avoid suspicion after past confrontations. It was at the end of his speech that Sánchez and Garamendi embraced amid the applause of the members of the executive committee.
The modification of the statutes is not yet firm, because it will have to obtain the approval of the general assembly on July 19, although given the support obtained yesterday, the path is clear.
In this way, Garamendi, re-elected last year by a strong majority and whose mandate ends in 2026, will be able to choose to run again, something that is currently prohibited by the statutes. In its current wording, point 4 of article 18 indicates that “the person designated as president of the confederation may hold office for a maximum of two consecutive terms of four years each”. It was a limitation introduced by Juan Rosell in 2014, when he was president of the CEOE, of which he was the first affected, since he left the position in 2018, after two consecutive mandates. Before Rosell, there was no term limit during the time of Carlos Ferrer Salat, José María Cuevas and Gerardo Díaz. The most prominent case is that of Cuevas, who spent 23 years at the head of the organization.
Before his re-election in November, Garamendi had already studied the possibility of changing the statutes, but he never managed to shape the proposal. It was now, a few months after his re-election and with more than three years ahead of him, when he moved to abolish the limit.
The revocation of the two-term limit is not the only change being considered. The conditions for running as a candidate for president are also tightened. In the proposal, it is considered to extend the period necessary to present candidates for the elections (from the current 15 days to 40) and to increase the number of endorsements that are required (now there are 20 members and four organizations, and it will go to 10% of voters, which is currently equivalent to around 80 endorsements and six organizations). In addition, if there is only one candidate, it will be proclaimed by acclamation without being put to a vote, but currently the request of a single member may require it.
Another modification is that the candidates will be proclaimed thirty days before the election, in contrast to the current regulations, which foresee this proclamation for the same day of the elections. On the other hand, the electoral regime control functions are recognized in the internal regime commission, the same one that presented yesterday the detailed proposal to amend the statutes. Currently, there is no body assigned to regulate the electoral process.
