The gap between the PP and the employers' association is widening: the Popular Party believes it is aligning with the Government.

Last week, the PP ombudsman, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, called the president of the CEV, Salvador Navarro, to request a formal meeting of the Platform for Fair Financing. There was no response, and last Monday, the PP leader was met with a harsh statement signed by the employers' association and unions in which they not only rejected the PP's proposal but also criticized the PP for putting "at risk the functioning and internal cohesion" of the entity. The CEV, CCOO, and UGT rejected "any attempt at partisan manipulation." This is a good example of the tension that exists between the business elite of the Valencian Community and the party that holds the Valencian government.

When the harsh response from social partners to their proposal became known, the Valencian People's Party (PP) avoided attacking them and blamed the left-wing parties, PSPV and Compromís, for not convening the platform. However, yesterday, the Popular Party's ombudsman in the Valencian Parliament, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, did not hesitate to express his "surprise" by the statement signed by the CEV. He said it could be expected from the unions, but not from the employers' association.

Read also

After the meeting of the Board of Trustees, Pérez Llorca questioned the content of the meeting and pointed out that the CEV should be demanding payment of the FLA and not agreeing with the government's version. For the PP's deputy, it seems that the business community is aligning with the government's position that a government cannot be given extra resources just because it lowers taxes.

An argument that surprised the CEV, which noted that they have always supported demanding the extraordinary FLA from Pedro Sánchez's administration, and not only that. In this regard, sources from the employers' association recalled statements by Salvador Navarro himself, in which he asserted that the Valencian employers' association will work with the Generalitat based on "institutional loyalty" on issues such as advance payments, the extraordinary FLA, and the regional financing model.

The employers' association reminds us that they do demand the extraordinary FLA.

An exchange of accusations takes place in a context of maximum tension between unions, employers, and the Valencian Council. The cut in subsidies agreed upon by the PP and Vox for the 2025 Valencian Government Budget has only served to highlight a distance, although yesterday the PP ombudsman tried to separate the two issues and preferred to believe that the content of the statement was not "revenge." For Pérez Llorca, "any business owner prefers an administration with a Budget." The truth is that the significant cut has jeopardized the social dialogue that had worked so well in the Valencian Community in recent years.