Today, Àngels Chacón, the Catalan Minister of Business and Knowledge, met with representatives of the Catalan Business Council (Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions [CCOO]; General Union of Workers [UGT]; the employers’ association Foment del Treball; and PIMEC, which represents SMEs and micro-enterprises) to discuss and analyse the current social and economic situation in Catalonia. “We don’t have to choose between economic prosperity and defending our fundamental rights,” Chacón said. 

“The Catalan government will continue to peacefully decry the repression we’re suffering with respect to the exercise of our rights and freedoms, and it will continue to defend our productive fabric. These two lines of action are perfectly compatible. In fact, safeguarding the productive sector is essential if we want Catalonia to remain a country of opportunities.”

The minister said she had called the meeting with the Catalan Business Council, which she described as a “space for social dialogue that represents Catalonia’s main social and economic actors”, to discuss the current social and economic situation and continue working to foster cooperation between the administration and the member organisations. The minister thanked the representatives for their consensus manifesto and said it was important to address and talk about the “cause” of the current situation rather than focusing only on the “symptoms”. “Now, more than ever, we need dialogue and politics. And the Spanish must face up to its responsibilities.”