Antoni Cañete is president of the Multi-Sector Platform Against Crime (PMcM), an organization that represents more than one million companies and freelancers from all regional and sectoral regions of the country. For more than a decade he has been preaching against the practices of the Public Administration and large corporations that extend payment terms to their suppliers and stifle the liquidity of SMEs. His conscientious lobbying with Government and parliamentary groups to make legislative improvements against criminality deserved a mention and unanimous applause at the plenary session of the Congress of Representatives voted on by Cañete after the bill known as “create and grow”. guest gallery. Since 2010, the law recognizes PMcM as a valid social addressee for SMEs and criminality issues.
In the current economic slowdown and energy crisis, are there signs of worsening payment terms?
We are starting to see some companies begin to abuse their dominant position. Companies that say “I will pay you 120, 160, 180 days” over the legal 60-day period, even though it has been forbidden to accept payment terms in this country since July 2010. Why? In the context of current inflation and rising interest rates, delaying payment gives you cheaper financing. This is currently
Giving in certain circumstances can only break the payment chain in the medium term, the consequences for the economy and the consequences that worry us.
The recent ratification of the law, known as the “Create and Grow Law,” represents an important step in the fight against criminality…
Yes, we haven’t explained its importance yet…
One of the most relevant measures is that which requires companies contracting with the public sector to be up-to-date with their subcontractors before obtaining work certificates.
This law directly attacks the notion that anyone who fails to meet payment deadlines cannot access public money. No 82,000 million Euro listed company that manages Spain can exceed the 60-day legal settlement period required by Europe. What does the new law include? Main contractor’s payment to subcontractor. Public Administration tasked with paying a main contractor, no one knows what the subcontractor will be. Get paid whenever the main contractor wants it. What did we achieve? In cases where the main contractor’s work is over 5 million and submits a document that he has completed the work, he does not charge a fee if he does not document that he has paid the subcontractor. This is a great milestone.
The “Create and Grow Law” has already been published in the BOE, but when will this measure take effect?
A regulation is needed for the development of the law. We were told by the Minister of Economy that this arrangement must be approved within two or three months.
Have you noticed that while this measure is not yet effective, large companies have a better disposition towards their subcontractors?
No, quite the opposite. There is still a lot of resistance. An attempt was made to introduce a change in the Senate that would disable it. The organization in the social dialogue representing SMEs says it’s not the time to demand that companies prove they pay others.
Are you talking about Cepyme?
Yes.
What exactly do you think Cepyme has to say about this new policy?
This is not the time to introduce bureaucracy for paying SMEs. And now that it’s okay to let things stay the same. It’s like they said to you, “Hey, since we’re in a crisis, nothing will happen if I don’t pay at the end of the month, because this is not the time to demand.”
Which parliamentary group in the Senate adopted this initiative?
A change has been introduced through the popular group so that the maximum legal payment period of 60 days starts counting from the invoice date, not the delivery of the product or service. If this change had continued, all the progress made in getting the bill passed in Congress would have been wasted. The amendment was 44, and its content was so strong that when we told all the groups what had happened, PP withdrew it a few hours before the vote. This is a shepherd’s job that Platform does, making sure the sheep are okay.
In addition, large companies with more than 250 employees and opting for a subsidy of more than 30,000 Euros must demonstrate that they have complied with their legal payment deadlines with their suppliers through a certificate issued by an auditor registered in the Official Registry of Auditors. Accounts. Will this measure be effective?
The law says: “You have to pay well or you won’t have public money, you won’t have subsidies.” And a responsible statement is not useful for guaranteeing that you pay well. It’s a joke, and we told Vice President Calviño. SMEs and micro businesses pay well because they don’t pay well. They lack a dominant position. To gain access to a subsidy, we had the largest companies submit an ad hoc document signed by a sworn censor, in addition to justifying that they were up to date on their Treasury and Social Security payments. Payment terms with providers. This is necessary because audits by companies mislead us.
When will this obligation take effect?
Something that should detail the new arrangement as well. On January 1, we should start the year with absolutely clear and concise new rules against late payments.
Another new measure is the annual publication of a list of delinquent companies that owe suppliers more than €600,000. When will we see the first one?
I hope the Administration approves the order allowing this list to be published as soon as possible. Listed companies will be obliged to post their average payment period and the volume of their invoices on their websites, except for mandatory periods. This list of liabilities and faults progresses in a transparency that gives prestige.
If all parliamentary groups voted in favor, why was it impossible to approve a system of sanctions against those who did not comply with the payment deadlines?
I would answer that question with another question: What is the interest in going twelve years without ratifying a sanctions regime in this country? Last October, a bill was introduced for its adoption, voted unanimously, but we’ve repeatedly delayed the extension and processing of more than 60 amendments in Congress. But look, we’ve already accomplished important things with the work we’ve done, and we’ve had the President of the European Commission, Mr. Von der Leyen, to include the topic of late payments and SMEs in his annual speech. More than ever, we demand a sanction regime and we feel we have support in the European Union.
There is another gap: the article of the Retail Trade Code, which provides for the acceptance of payment terms of more than 90 days for fresh and perishable products or products that continue for food and mass consumption.
It doesn’t change because department stores somehow live on by paying SMEs late, weakening them and in many cases closing them. It’s a shame that you can pay at any time in retail.