The president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, has ruled out that he has had support or "political help" to ensure his continuity at the head of the employers' association or to prevent alternative candidates from emerging for the presidency of the organization. "I don't need," he stated.
"I don't know who will say or won't say, but it's not true," he emphasized in Santander when asked by the media about comments pointing to that supposed political backing to strengthen his leadership.
Garamendi has stressed that in the CEOE "we neither depend nor will we ever depend on any party." "We are independent," he insisted, claiming the autonomy of the business organization against political formations.
The business leader recalled that in the years he has been at the head of the employers' association, he has had disagreements "with absolutely all parties for saying what needs to be said at each moment," something that —he guaranteed— he will "continue doing" in the future.
In this line, he defended that the employers' association acts "with a sense of state" and from "institutional loyalty" in a situation where, in his opinion, "it seems that everything is in question" and "radicalism is on the table."
"I believe that what Spain needs is much more tranquility and less radicalism than what we are seeing absolutely every day," he stated, to emphasize that the CEOE will not enter into that dynamic. "You will not find us in one place or another," he reiterated.
The challenges of the new political course
Regarding the start of the political course and the issues that will be debated in the coming months, such as the regulation on salary transparency or the modification of the time registration, Garamendi considers that "it will be difficult" for the CEOE to align its proposals with the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Diaz.
In his opinion, until the next elections, there will be "various announcements of all kinds" from the political sphere aimed at capturing votes. In contrast, he assured that in the employers' association "we will be focused on what we think is good for Spain, for its companies, and for the workers."
Garamendi made these statements to journalists before participating in the 40th Meeting of Digital Economy and Telecommunications, organized by the Multisectoral Association of Information Technology, Communications, and Electronics Companies (Ametic), as part of the program of the International University Menéndez Pelayo (UIMP).