Announcement of extension of permanent entrepreneur support contract to part-time workers

In light of certain positive data released recently, the President of the Government highlighted the risk of thinking that "we have entered a period of smooth sailing and that we need only let the economy run its course, on its own, to lead us out of the crisis". He stressed that "we certainly shouldn't relax or rest on our laurels. I insist, we cannot allow ourselves a single moment of relaxation or relief".

Mariano Rajoy said this in his speech at the Forum for Entrepreneurs and the Self-Employed organised by the National Federation of the Self-Employed. While speaking at the event, he insisted that the Spanish economic situation is better than it was a year ago "but that should only encourage us to keep working until we can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that Spain is out of the crisis".

While underlining the important role being played in this recovery by the foreign trade sector, he also highlighted the efforts being made by the more than three million self-employed in Spain, whose work is supporting "the framework of our economic structure".

In this regard, he pointed out that over 90% of jobs are created by small- and medium-sized enterprises and independent contractors - "an irreplaceable pillar of our economy" that deserve "our recognition, our respect and extreme gratitude".

While attending the event, the President of the Government took the opportunity to announce that the Government of Spain is going to extend the use of permanent entrepreneur support contracts to part-time workers in order to foster the creation of permanent employment contracts. "This is regularly and repeatedly called for by the sector and I am pleased to announce that it will soon be published in the pages of the Official State Gazette".

As regards access to financing - another regular request from the entrepreneur and self-employed sector, Mariano Rajoy admitted that the financial sector "is still not fulfilling its duty effectively, with certain exceptions". Nonetheless, strong growth in the financial sector means we can expect credit to start flowing normally again soon.

Meanwhile, he said that the third stage of the Supplier Payment Plan has already been launched. This will deal with "another 13 billion euros of invoices already registered with the Ministry of the Treasury, which will start to be settled this November. Payments will begin no later than the start of December".

Furthermore, he reiterated that the Government of Spain's intention was to have already implemented the system whereby VAT need only be paid to the Treasury after the corresponding invoice has been settled, but that this has not yet been possible. However, "if, as we hope, the General State Budget Act, currently in its passage through Parliament, is approved by the end of the year, VAT will only be collected once the corresponding invoice is settled and not simply because it has been charged to a client as from 1 January".

Mariano Rajoy said that these measures, as well as others already in place, have led to qualitative change, "which is reflected in the fact that the economy is now growing in the second half of the year and not contracting. Put another way, the Spanish economy has stopped shrinking and has started to improve". In this regard, he stressed that, if growth stands at around 0.7% in 2014 - as foreseen in the General State Budget, "the difference when compared with 2013 will stand at two points, which is already a significant turnaround".

The improvement boils down to a recovery from a technical recession following nine consecutive periods of negative growth, although the President of the Government warned that the end of the recession, albeit an important step, "is not the end of the crisis".

Although a great deal remains to be done, Mariano Rajoy believes that "what we have already managed together is no mean feat". He insisted that the pace of reform and collective effort must be maintained because "we have achieved a great deal, but a great deal more still remains to be done before we can feel satisfied with the results".