At its assembly in February 2002, Spain's CEOE employers' confederation re-elected José María Cuevas for his sixth term as president. Mr Cuevas took advantage of the occasion to criticise severely decentralisation to the regions, which he believes has stirred up regional differences and increased public expenditure, and to call for new liberalising reforms of strategic sectors such as energy and telecommunications, as well as of industrial relations and social protection.
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At its assembly in February 2002, Spain's CEOE employers' confederation re-elected José María Cuevas for his sixth term as president. Mr Cuevas took advantage of the occasion to criticise severely decentralisation to the regions, which he believes has stirred up regional differences and increased public expenditure, and to call for new liberalising reforms of strategic sectors such as energy and telecommunications, as well as of industrial relations and social protection.
The Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organisations (Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales, CEOE) held its assembly on 28 February 2002. The meeting re-elected José María Cuevas to his sixth term as CEOE's president, by 467 votes for, none against and 11 abstentions. Mr Cuevas, aged 66, has been president for 18 years. The meeting also approved CEOE's new board of directors, on which Juan Jiménez Aguilar continues as general secretary. Fernández Norniella, the president of the Council of Chambers of Commerce (Consejo de Camaras de Comercio), retired as CEOE vice-chairman. CEOE has complicated relations with the Chambers of Commerce, which are currently under debate and, in his speech to the assembly, Mr Cuevas called for greater participation by employers in the Chambers of Commerce. However, the main focus of the CEOE president was on two major problems that are a cause of concern to the employers:
the current widespread decentralisation of powers (including in the labour and employment field) to the regions, or autonomous communities (ES0009112F), is seen as presenting a serious risk of a rupture in the 'unity of the market' (ES0006291N). Mr Cuevas admitted that the system of autonomous communities has brought public administration closer to the public. However, he claimed that it has increased public expenditure and diluted the concept of inter-regional solidarity, stirring up differences between regions; and
liberalising reforms aimed at giving greater freedom to citizens, including the reform of energy, telecommunications, unemployment, social security, industrial relations and collective bargaining, are still pending. On the latter question. Mr Cuevas called for the government to grant the employers autonomy to discuss the matter with the trade unions (ES0201207F).
At the assembly's closing ceremony, the Minister of the Economy, Rodrigo Rato, announced a government decision that the Pension Reserve Fund (Fondo de Reserva de las Pensiones) (ES0106244F) will have funding of EUR 6 billion by the end of the government's current term of office. He also took the opportunity to criticise the employers, which, he stated, are calling for cuts in social expenditure but in the past 16 months have taken advantage of the transition to the euro single currency to raise prices. Mr Cuevas responded that the government is responsible for the impact on inflation of increases in indirect taxes.
Apart from this exchange of criticisms, Mr Cuevas recognised the 'magnificent' work that the government has done in the socio-economic field. The meeting was also attended by the chair of the Economic and Social Council (Consejo Económico y Social), Jaime Montalvo, and the general secretaries of the Trade Union Confederation of Workers' Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO) and the General Workers' Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT), José María Fidalgo and Cándido Méndez respectively.
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