Background information

The Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP), the Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (CCP), the Business Confederation of Portugal (CIP), the Portuguese Confederation of Construction and Real Estate (CPCI) and the Confederation of Tourism of Portugal (CTP) have just created the National Council of Employers' Confederations (CNCP), a platform that aims to strengthen and accelerate the recovery of the business structure and the national economy.

Content of measure

The press release (18 May 2021) published by the 5 Employer Confederations - CAP, CCP, CIP, CPCP and CTP explaining the reasons and aims for the creation of the National Council of Employers' Confederations (CNCP) states that the initiative of creating this joint platform intends to strengthen and accelerate the recovery of business and national economy:

"Aware of their responsibilities at this crucial moment in the Portuguese economy, the five Confederations representing strategic sectors for the country decided to join their voices in the CNCP, committing to defend companies in the face of the adversity that threatens them and the urgency of placing them at the center of the recovery, which should be based on a new generation of public policies and efficient, rigorous and transparent use of resources public, national and European."

In a medium and long term perspective, the Confederations assume, in their common action, the defense of a favorable framework for companies to overcome five major cross-cutting challenges they face:"

• Recover customers and markets and adopt new commercial strategies, in a scenario of instability, unpredictability and changing habits of the consumers. Increase competitiveness on an international scale, despite more generous and dynamic support policies from competing markets.
• Capture and retain human resources with the appropriate skills to requalification of human resources, especially in the area of digital skills and business recovery.
• Achieve more solid financial structures in order to increase resilience, driving recovery and growth.
• Adapt and schedule new investments in the face of new challenges and uncertainty markets, accelerating the introduction of new technologies.

In view to accelerate recovery and start a new cycle of growth, the CNCP highlights: "The urgency to preserve the survival of as many companies as possible, avoiding the collapse of much of the business structure and the consequent escalation of unemployment, worsening social crisis and destructing productive capacity, imposes the need to delineate medium and long-term strategies to strengthen and accelerate recovery and start a new cycle of development, solid and sustained. The financial resources provided by the European Union, whether through the Recovery and Resilience Plan, whether through the next Partnership Agreement and respective programs, should be allocated coherently with this economic strategy. The CNCP proposes to work closely with the government in order to ensure the reorientation of our growth model and economic and social development with a view to national recovery.

Use of measure

Non applicable.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Employers' organisations	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative
Form	Not applicable	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Only employers' organisations
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

As explained in the description the creation of the National Council of Employers' Confederations (CNCP) resulted from a joint decision of the 5 employers confederations.

Views and reactions

Not available.

Sources

• 22 April 2021: PRR–Recuperar Portugal, Construindo o Futur (www.portugal.gov.pt)
• 18 May 2021: Confederações unem-se em defesa das empresas e da economia naciona (cncp.com.pt)