Every day some new suggestion emerges that hasn't been agreed upon
En Andalucía, la federación empresarial CEA ha alzado la voz contra la propuesta gubernamental de elevar las cuotas de la Seguridad Social para trabajadores autónomos en 2026, convirtiendo un debate técnico en una pregunta más profunda sobre cómo se construye la política pública en democracia. Javier González de Lara, presidente de la CEA, no objeta tanto la medida en sí como el método: decisiones que deberían nacer del diálogo social llegan, en cambio, a través de los medios de comunicación, dejando a los empresarios en el papel de opositores en lugar de interlocutores. En un momento en que los autónomos y las pequeñas empresas ya cargan con presiones acumuladas, la forma en que se gobierna importa tanto como lo que se gobierna.
- El Ministerio de Seguridad Social propone subir las cuotas de autónomos para 2026, y las organizaciones empresariales andaluzas lo reciben como un golpe más sobre una espalda ya doblada.
- González de Lara describe un patrón de acumulación: la jornada de 37,5 horas, el decreto de registro digital, y ahora esto, cada medida anunciada en prensa antes de pasar por los foros de negociación.
- Lo que más irrita a los empresarios no es el coste económico aislado, sino la sensación de que el diálogo social se ha convertido en una formalidad vacía mientras las decisiones reales se toman en otro lugar.
- CEA y ATA preparan una oposición formal, pero la batalla de fondo es sobre quién tiene voz en la construcción de las reglas que sostienen —o hunden— a los pequeños empresarios cada día.
El martes, Javier González de Lara, presidente de la CEA y vicepresidente de la CEOE, compareció ante los medios para rechazar la propuesta del Ministerio de Seguridad Social de incrementar las cuotas que pagan los trabajadores autónomos a partir de 2026. Lo llamó una carga más sobre quienes ya luchan por mantenerse a flote, y lo enmarcó no como un hecho aislado sino como el último eslabón de una cadena que incluye la batalla parlamentaria por la jornada de 37,5 horas y el nuevo decreto sobre registro horario digital.
Pero la queja más honda de González de Lara no era sobre cifras sino sobre método. Cada nueva propuesta, dijo, llega a través de los periódicos en lugar de emerger de los foros de diálogo social donde empresarios y gobierno deberían negociar. El resultado es que los representantes empresariales quedan retratados como obstruccionistas cuando en realidad, argumenta, nunca fueron consultados. Puso un ejemplo extremo —la propuesta de que empresas de más de 250 empleados atiendan a clientes en catalán— para ilustrar cómo una idea lanzada mediáticamente convierte automáticamente a quien la cuestiona en el antagonista.
Para los autónomos y las microempresas, el impacto es concreto: cada nueva obligación económica puede ser la diferencia entre continuar o cerrar. CEA y ATA anuncian una oposición formal a la medida, pero la tensión que revelan es más amplia: la de un sector que siente que la política se le impone en lugar de construirse con él.
Javier González de Lara, who leads the Andalusian business federation CEA, stood before reporters on Tuesday with a complaint that has become familiar in Spanish business circles: the government keeps announcing new burdens without asking first. This time, it was the Ministry of Social Security proposing to raise the contributions that self-employed workers pay into the system starting in 2026. González de Lara called it a noose around the neck of workers who already struggle to stay afloat.
The proposal, he said, was just the latest in what feels like an endless series of blows. The CEA president, who also serves as vice president of the national business confederation CEOE, framed the contribution increase as part of a pattern. First came the parliamentary fight over the 37.5-hour work week. Then came a new decree to regulate digital work hours, which he said would impose significant costs on employers. Now this. Each announcement arrives through the media rather than through the formal channels where business groups and government are supposed to negotiate.
What frustrates González de Lara most is not any single policy but the method. "Every day some new suggestion emerges that hasn't been agreed upon in the social dialogue forums," he told journalists. The government, in his view, uses the press to float ideas, which makes business leaders look like reactionaries when they object. He pointed to an absurd example: a proposal that companies with more than 250 employees explain themselves to customers in Catalan. Float that through the media, he suggested, and suddenly the business community becomes the villain.
The numbers matter here. González de Lara emphasized that the contribution increases represent significant sums, not trivial adjustments. For self-employed workers already squeezed by rising costs and regulatory complexity, another mandatory payment could be the difference between staying in business and closing the door. Microenterprises and small companies, already fragile, would face yet another expense they cannot easily absorb.
The CEA and ATA, the major autonomous workers' organization, plan to formally oppose the proposal. But their resistance points to a deeper tension. Business groups say they are under constant assault—fiscal pressure, social security obligations, labor regulations that multiply each year. They ask for sensitivity toward the small and medium-sized entrepreneur who wakes up each day facing new difficulties. Instead, they say, they get announcements in the newspapers.
González de Lara's complaint is not that government should never raise contributions or regulate work. It is that these decisions should emerge from negotiation, not from ministerial decree dressed up as news. The social dialogue forums exist for a reason. When the government bypasses them, it signals that business input does not matter, that policy is made elsewhere and simply announced. For workers and employers already stretched thin, that approach feels less like governance and more like a slow, deliberate squeeze.
Notable Quotes
This would add a noose around the neck of many autonomous workers who cannot absorb these costs— Javier González de Lara, CEA president
Every day some new suggestion emerges that hasn't been agreed upon in the social dialogue forums— Javier González de Lara
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does González de Lara keep calling this a "noose around the neck"? Is the contribution increase actually that severe?
The amount itself matters less than the context. These workers are already managing thin margins. Another mandatory payment, on top of recent labor law changes and regulatory costs, tips the balance from manageable to impossible for some.
But doesn't government have a right to adjust social security contributions? That's how the system stays solvent.
Of course. The issue isn't whether they can do it. It's that they're announcing it through the press instead of negotiating it first. That's the real complaint—the method signals that business groups have no seat at the table.
So this is about respect, not just money?
Exactly. If you're told your input matters, but decisions arrive as news bulletins, you feel dismissed. For small business owners already stressed, that dismissal stings.
He mentions the 37.5-hour work week and digital work regulations. Are those actually expensive for employers?
Yes. Shorter hours mean either hiring more staff or paying overtime. Digital work rules mean monitoring and compliance systems. Each one individually is manageable; together they're a burden that compounds.
What happens next? Will the government listen to the opposition?
That's unclear. The CEA and ATA will formally object, but if the government has already decided, formal opposition might just be theater. The real question is whether this pattern continues—more announcements, less dialogue.