direct assistance requested by ceramic tile manufacturing industry They are subordinate to the Spanish Government, not to Brussels. This is stated by the association of manufacturers of these products, Thus, pointing to the administration that should be responsible for ensuring continuity, Ascer said, An industry on which a large part of Castellón’s economic activity depends.
As this employers’ association points out, “The European Commission defined in March the provisional framework for state aid that sets the levels of aid each member state can allocate to their companies. different aid levels are determined depending on the situation of each sector and up to 2 million euros per company for energy-intensive companies, and up to 25 million euros in case of loss, and up to 50 million for sectors that are particularly affected by the situation in the ceramic tile industry. In its place, The Spanish Government has only contributed an upper figure of 400,000 Euros, this was described as inadequate from the outset.
comparisons
The main European competitors of Spanish tile manufacturers Italians are already receiving overwhelming aid “Offering up to 40% price difference on their invoices compared to 2019, which gives them a significant competitive advantage over Spanish tiles,” they state, as determined by their government. At a recent meeting of the European tile industry, it was revealed that most tile manufacturers received far more help than was received in Spain. Thus, in addition to Italian industry, ” Portugal, Poland or the Czech Republic are supported by their governments much more decisively than their governments.and what the Spanish government is doing,” they add.
The lack of strong assistance to the Spanish industry leads to a remarkable loss of competitiveness compared to our European neighbors and creates a situation of deterioration in the community market. when countries love Germany to allocate up to 200,000 million Euros To support its economy and Italy or Austria more than 50,000 million, Spain is limiting its aid to the industry in various packages that go up to around 1,000 million euros.
profitable industry
Ascer’s claim The Spanish tile industry is “strong and profitable. It is the world’s third-largest exporter, the first European producer, and is responsible for reducing Spain’s trade deficit by up to 13% in 2021, thanks to its export trend, however, it is also highly dependent on energy, consuming 8% of Spain’s industrial gas, so this will clearly be affected as it continues. That’s why support measures need to be implemented to ensure the survival of a leading industry in Europe and the world.”
Ceramic clustering under the leadership of the tile industry, 24,000 people directly and more than 73,000 indirectly According to a recent study by consulting firm PwC. It represents 2.7% of industrial employment in the whole of Spain, which means that for each direct job 3.3 is produced in the Spanish economy. Due to the complex situation caused by the energy increase, the top three EREs in the industry were announced last week, impacting more than 400 jobs.
“We don’t see any measures”
Ascer general secretary, Alberto Echavarría is frank in his analysis: “More than 400 jobs have already been destroyed, we have more than 7000 workers. POSTPONE We do not see that they can follow the same path and we do not see any action on behalf of the government. While our European neighbors protect their companies, Our government is standing. We need urgent action now.”
On the other hand, Azer Positive reviews of President Ximo Puig’s political action This week in Brussels. European Commission, act quickly to eliminate inefficiencies occurring in the energy market, job destruction as a result, especially at the price of gas, which has forced many industries that depend on this energy to reduce or cease their production.