Close vote on the silver seats in the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce ends with a victory for the measure promoted by Josep Santacreu. The president of the institution has gathered the necessary support to advance the proposal that has generated the most division in the institution in recent months. The plenary of the entity approved this Thursday the expansion of the paid seats with a tie of 29 votes in favor and 29 against, which was resolved positively with Santacreu’s casting vote.
After the plenary’s approval, the silver seats of the entity will be expanded from two to ten. These are the board positions assigned through a voluntary financial contribution to large companies. The pro-independence candidacy Eines de País and the employers’ association Pimec opposed this modification and, although they managed to tie the votes in favor, these were not enough. The arithmetic of the session was expected to be tight and the result shows that some of the 31 board members of Va d’Empresa – Santacreu’s list – voted against their president. Initially, Eines de País and Pimec had 24 votes, but they would have managed to convince other members of the plenary to try to tip the balance in their favor.
The plenary took place in a tense atmosphere and with a debate that lasted longer than expected. In fact, sources close to the meeting say that one of the 60 members could not attend in person, an absence that could also have been decisive in tipping the balance for or against the motion on the silver seats.
Last week, the executive committee of the Chamber approved an agreement to recover the greatest representation of the corporations. Now the only two silver seats were occupied by CriteriaCaixa and the RACC, after Eines reduced these seats by winning the elections at the height of the procés. With this expansion, the board positions chosen by vote will decrease from 52 to 44, since the plenary also has six seats reserved for employers’ associations (Foment and Pimec have three each).
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Despite its approval this Thursday, the measure will not have immediate effects. The expansion to ten silver seats has been promoted in the final stretch of Josep Santacreu’s first term so that it comes into effect ahead of the next Chamber elections, scheduled for 2027. The institution defends that the change will allow the configuration of a more representative governing body, with the presence of both SMEs and large companies.
In addition to Criteria and the RACC, which have silver seats, companies such as Banc Sabadell, Saba, Ficosa, or Ametller Origen, which obtained their seat by winning in their respective categories, are also part of the plenary.
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