“We are very much looking forward to this meeting because it is the first one with the new government, and we naturally want to materialize what we see as a need, which is the central role of the economy in political discourse and action,” stated Armindo Monteiro, president of the CIP – Confederation of Portuguese Business.
For the business leader, economic growth is “absolutely essential to ensure the increase of wages and workers’ income,” and administrative simplification is also crucial for that effort, he highlighted.
“It is important to mention that we are not talking about less scrutiny; we are talking about simplification, meaning doing more quickly what today takes a long time,” he emphasized.
João Vieira Lopes, president of the Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (CCP), believes the meeting, led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, will focus on methodological issues but highlighted some priorities for the organization.
“One of them is that the agenda for the modernization of commerce and services under the previous government made little progress, and therefore we think there are now conditions to advance more rapidly,” he noted.
He also mentioned “a set of open points, namely labor legislation,” which he believes should be developed.
On the other hand, the CCP wants “to discuss new measures regarding immigration,” recalling that the agreement made on this matter “was previously discussed with social partners.”
“Therefore, we endorsed it and are willing to comply,” he emphasized.
“Now, measures have emerged, namely those related to more complexities concerning immigrants from the CPLP [Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries], which concern us because in the universe of commerce and services, everyone who interacts with consumers should know Portuguese, and most immigrants [who know] are from the CPLP,” he stressed.
Armindo Monteiro also highlighted tax issues, particularly the IRC code.
“The code is from 1989,” he reminded, indicating that today’s reality is “completely different from that” of 1989.
“It’s not just about the IRC rate but about the determination of the taxable base, the connection with the tax administration process, the submission of declarations, in other words, several circumstances that we think need to be discussed,” he emphasized.
Regarding the labor code, the CIP leader believes it needs to align with “European practices, no more, no less.”
“We do not want it to be more favorable, but we also do not want it to be less favorable; we want it to be part of what is a European labor relationship,” he indicated.
The plenary meeting of the Standing Committee for Social Concertation (CPCS) is scheduled for July 2 and will include the presentation of institutional greetings, partner interventions, and other topics on the agenda.
