Seopan Sustains that the infrastructures are not the origin of the Spanish crisis but one of his big victims

Taking into account the budgetary plans of the Government for the three next years, Seopan, the patronal of the main companies Spanish constructors, no atisba a recovery in the Spanish market of the public work until, at least, the year 2016. To face up to this complicadísima situation, the association has presented nueve big challenges to which would have to face up today the sector to guarantee his survival.

According to the data handled by Seopan, in the last 19 years the ratio Spanish of public investment, in real terms of euros invested by km² and million of inhabitants, has been inferior to the of Germany in 10%, to the of France in 16%, to the of Italy in 48% and to the of United Kingdom in 58%. This disassembles the idea, extended in different fields of the society, that the origin of the crisis in our country is in the construction of infrastructures.

In spite of not being the managers of the situation that crosses our country, the true is that the companies constructors are those that more are suffering the adjust public prosecutor realizar during the last years. Of the 5,1 points porcentuales of reduction of cost with regard to the GDP by part of the administrations during the period 2010-2012, the public investment represents almost 60% of the total (30.000 million euros less). Besides, the income by the tax on societies grew in 2012 in 4.824 million euros, 29% more.

Unfortunately, the forecasts that does Seopan for the next years do not speak of a change of tendency, especially when checking that the public investment will follow suffering cuts in the three next years. The last budgetary plan anticipates new adjust by value of 5.000 million euros in the period 2014-2016, until reaching a weight in the GDP of 1,1%, almost the third part of the ratio half of 1995/2013.

With this situation, Spain happens to have the minor ratio of investment by surface and population of the EU27. In 2014/2015 the projection of Spanish investment will be 59% inferior to the French and the German, 60% inferior to the Italian and 76% inferior to the English. And this although the singularities of our country in surface and population require a ratio investment/upper GDP to the average of the European Union.

According to Eurostat, in real terms (euros in 2013) Spain has invested 550.000 million euros in the last 19 years in civil work, in front of the 1.147.000 million euros invested by France, the 766.500 million euros invested by Germany, the 675.000 million euros invested by Italy and the 555.000 million euros invested by United Kingdom in the same period. Taking into account that we have spent less than other countries but that have of a stock of upper infrastructures in a lot of cases, remains evident that the competitiveness of this sector in Spain keeps on being very high.

With regard to the idea that in Spain have built infrastructures infrautilizadas, from Seopan affirms that the works realizar with “doubtful profitability” (10 airports and others) hardly represent the 2,7 by one thousand of the invested in the two last decades.

Obviously, the employment is one of the elements that more is seeing resentful by the fall of investment in civil work. After the creation of 232.000 employments lived in this sector between the year 2000 and the 2008, in the last five years have destroyed near of 369.000 (in edificación, have destroyed more than 1.360.000).

Ratio Investor in the period 1995-2013 in euros by km² and million of inhabitants.

Of face to a recovery of the sector, Seopan has identified nueve challenges that has to encarar the sector of the civil work to guarantee his survival:

1.- Recover the coherence investor and of competitiveness in the EU: in front of the planned investment of 28,9 billion of euros for the period 2014-2015 (1,4%/GDP), this value would have to elevate to near of 64.400 million euros (3,1%/GDP) not to lose competitiveness with regard to the rest of European countries.

2.- Update of the frame regulatorio concesional Spanish: especially in the transmission of risks to the private operator and in the terms and conditions of the agreements.

3.- New model of conservation and maintenance: research of alternatives like the tarificación by use of the roads. The new model would affect to the network of general interest of high capacity, would generate a near income to the 3.000-4.000 million euros, being able to repercutirse 1/3 of the same to the adoption of palliative measures (sector transport) and 2/3 to the maintenance and conservation of the existent network.

4.- Infrastructures of purification: according to Seopan, the private sector, previous realisation of determinate and necessary changes regulatorios and homogenisation of prices, has the technical and financial capacity to resolve the current deficit of investment, without impact in the public deficit, being able to present projects of cofinanciación private of infrastructures of purification of water.

5.- Solution for the motorways of toll in contest: Is in evaluation the constitution of a society public dealer of motorways, that would add nueve societies dealers that manage 748 km, 22% of the total network of motorways of toll. The solution has to minimise the impact in the public deficit, avoid the statement of Help of State and fulfil the new countable rule SEC2010.

6.- Exception to the ‘Golden Rule': implement a clause of flexibility to determinate investments in the instrument of the Pact of Stability and Growth. It would not have to restrict to projects with cofinanciación European. If it suppressesed the relative restriction to the projects cofinanciados, requiring nevertheless in his determinate place requirements of economic return, cohesion and creation of employment, the growth of investment in 2015/2016 could represent 1% of the GDP (10.000 million euros), with a fiscal return of 6.200 million euros and more than 180.000 new employments.

7.- Enlargement of the field and volume of financials of the BEI: is developing an initiative to take advantage of the capacity of attraction of the BEI to obtain additional financials of the markets. At present, in front of some needs of cofinanciación of projects out of the EU of 30.000 million annual euros, the BEI only covers 7.000 millions.

8.- Homologation of the title of Engineer of Ways, Channels and Ports: until the regulation of the Plans of Bolonia, the enabling title for the profession has been exclusively the one of Engineer of Ways, Channels and Ports, regulated by the RD 1425/1991, of 30 August. After the process of university convergence and according to the RD 1393/2007, of 29 October, arises the new enabling title of Máster. To day of today, the Ministry of Education still has not recognised this degree and this situation is creating serious problems of competitiveness to the Spanish companies of infrastructures as they see forced to hire civil engineers foreigners to fulfil the pliegos in international biddings.

9.- Adjudication underneath of the cost of production: The public servicys have the obligation to keep his market not improving the adjudication of losses in the current situation of crisis and survival of the business offer with activity in the civil work. From the start of the adjust public prosecutor in 2010, the ‘low ‘' of contracting of the State have duplicated and have proliferated pliegos of contracting with weightings of economic technical/punctuation unsuitable.

The values of representativeness of the public investment on the GDP programmed for the period 2014-2016 surpass the historical minimum in the available statistical bases from 1964. According to the valid projections, the public investment in Spain will keep in 2014 and will reduce 14,2% in 2015 and 8,3% in 2016.

The production by subsectores in real terms has fallen underneath of the levels registered around the middle of the years 90, giving the circumstance that in 2013 the segment that more production registered was the rehabilitation and the maintenance of buildings (28.293 million euros), above the edificación residential and no residential and, even, of the own civil work (22.471 million euros).

In the case of the traffic in the motorways of toll, this has suffered a half fall of 42% from 2007, although it is true that from finals of 2013 aims a change of tendency, especially in the heavy traffic.

In matter of bidding, the Ministry responsible for public works has reduced his bidding 79% from 2008, and the Ministry of Environingingment 57% from 2006. In the case of the CC AA the bidding has fallen 83% from 2006, and in the one of the city councils, 80% from 2009.

The state public contracting, in terms of representativeness on GDP, registers a historical minimum, with a fall in the period 2007-2013 of 85%. In 2013 they received adjudications of the State 228 companies, when in 2007 were more than 590 (the works also are of lower size).

In front of this situation, the companies constructors have in the internationalisation his main source of growth. To day of today, more than 80% of the activity of the companies of Seopan, proceeds of works abroad, with special presence, and by this order, in Latin America (30% of the contracting), EU (20%) and Middle East (18%). Not even situations lived recently like the works in the Channel of Panama brake the penetration of the Spanish constructors in the international market, occupying these signatures the first places of the rankings world-wide of contracting (by number of agreements of construction and operation, 8 of the 37 greater operators of the world in matter of infrastructures of the transport are Spanish).

The planned investment in the PGE for 2014 (8.658 million euros) supposes a descent of 61% with regard to the maximum reached in 2009. In fact, this year the sector of the construction will subtract 0,6 points of growth to the GDP.

This fall in the investment goes to suppose besides the destruction closely of 75.000 employments in the sector of the construction, in front of the creation of 92.000 estimated in the rest of the sectors.

To general level, according to the data of Seopan, the total activity of the sector of the construction will reduce between 4% and 6%, with regard to 2013, experiencing the civil work the greater fall (-12/-16%) and the rehabilitation, the lower (0/-2%).