Proposals to improve the direct aid plan for companies in Spain
The Spanish Business Association (CEOE) analyzes the implementation of direct grants to self-employed and companies approved by the government, in the context of the Covid-19 crisis. It provides recommendations to improve the design and effectiveness of the plan, aimed to softening some of the general requirements to be a beneficiary and to end with the significant divergences in their concession among different regions.
The main recommendations and conclusions of the CEOE´s analysis on the implementation of direct aid to self-employed and companies approved by the government are as follows:
- Regarding the general requirements:
- Usage of the aid: Current criteria is harming those companies and entrepreneurs that have paid their debts instead of resorting to non-payment or external financing, since the aid can only be used to pay fixed costs, suppliers, reduction of debts derived from economic activity and debts with bank creditors.
- Viability of the companies: CEOE considers that the rule of excluding those companies and entrepreneurs with losses in 2019 should be lifted, since the relative size of losses is not considered neither if they effectively affect the viability of the company. It would be advisable to assess the impact of losses on the equity of the company.
- Term of the obligations eligible for aid: It would be necessary to extend the call for aid at least until the end of September, considering that the economic effects of the pandemic are still visible.
- Different criteria for granting aid by autonomous regions (CCAA): By allowing the CCAA to modify some of the general requirements, there have been significant differences that are not always justified when granting aid so that “companies in the same economic circumstances would or would not be entitled to aid depending on the territory in which they are registered”.
- International comparison: In Spain the aid has arrived several months later and with less coverage than that of the main surrounding countries (Germany, France, Italy).
Filter results
According to Boston Consulting Group, regulation brought in after the GFC strengthened the financial sector’s resilience but institutionalized bias towards removing all risk over economic growth.
According to Ramón Casilda, the EU–Mercosur agreement will generate annual tariff savings of around €4 billion, which is significantly higher than the savings expected under the agreements with Canada and Japan.
Economist José Carlos Díez notes that Spain’s banking sector has an excess of deposits and sufficient liquidity to meet the credit demand of companies and households, and does so at the lowest interest rates in Europe, according to the ECB.
According to CEPS, regulatory and supervisory complexity acts as a structural constraint on integration, investment and market depth, with costs that weigh most heavily on smaller institutions, new entrants and cross-border business models.
According to the ECB, an efficient, secure and integrated payment system would strengthen the international role of the euro and deliver benefits such as lower financing costs, reduced exposure to exchange rate fluctuations and greater protection against sanctions.
According to the IEA one key debate in the EU on financial regulation simplification is whether to explicitly include competitiveness, efficiency or contribution to growth as objectives of the regulatory agencies, following the UK example.
According to IE University’s Center for the Governance of Change, deeper and more integrated financial markets would strengthen the euro’s global role. This requires, among other elements, resilient and interoperable payment systems and completing the banking union.
Partnerships between banks and private credit: The winners will be those that combine bank underwriting discipline, distribution, and customer access with private capital’s appetite for long-dated, illiquid risk, according to Oliver Wyman.
Lucrezia Reichlin (CEPR): A CBDC is not a prerequisite for monetary sovereignty. Confusing money with payments can risk misdiagnosing the problem and misaligning economic policy efforts.
According to the World Economic Forum´s Global Risk Report 2026, geoeconomic confrontation, mis- and disinformation and societal polarization make up the top three short-term risks, while environmental risks dominate in the long term.
According to the World Economic Forum, over the last few years AI has moved from experimentation to workflow integration, promising systemic gains in productivity while also raising critical questions around economic inclusion, values, trust and resilience.
According to AFME, a clearer, more coherent, and proportionate regulatory environment, without unnecessary layers and focuses on growth and competitiveness, is keyl to increase investor confidence, unlock private capital and deepen European capital markets