This is the first time, since this indicator began to be drawn up in 2008, that Spain has been placed among the 30 leading countries in terms of business climate. It is placed ahead of such countries as France (31st), the Netherlands (32nd), Switzerland (33rd), Japan (34th), Italy (46th) and Belgium (52nd). This new leap in Spain's position - it was down in 44th in 2011 - can be explained by the efforts at reform and to foster a favourable business climate, production and job creation made by Spain in recent years.
Among the reforms carried out since 2012, the World Bank highly rates improvements in the corporate governance of capital companies (Act 31/2014), which has modernised and improved their governance by strengthening the role of the board of directors in decision-making; the 2014 tax reform, which reduced the tax rate of corporate income tax and simplifies and facilitates compliance with tax obligations, the reform of insolvency law (between 2011 and 2015), which has allowed costs to be reduced and the time involved in insolvency procedures, and the facilitation of pre-insolvency mechanisms (re-financing agreements and out-of-court payment agreements), and the improvement in the efficiency of the companies register and the tax agency.
Consequently, Spain has improved its position in several key areas and individual indicators that are used to draw up the scoreboard. On the one hand, the rise in the table is noteworthy on obtaining electricity, up 36 places. This is mainly due to better procedures being used this year and the costs that companies must pay in obtaining electricity. Spain has also climbed the table in the protection of minority investors, up eight places; in the indicator of tax payments, up three places; in the reduction in the percentage of profits taxed; in the indicator of contractual compliance, up three places, as a result of the reduction in court fees for entering into a contract.
'Doing Business' is one of the annual publications of the World Bank, which is now in its 15th year. It is mainly focused on small- and medium-sized enterprises in 10 key areas in the life of a business: formalities and requirements necessary to start a business, obtaining building permits, the permits necessary to receive an electricity supply, those relating to the property register, access to credit, the protection of minority shareholders, tax payments, cross-border trade, judicial resolution of differences between contractual parties, and the suspension of payments or corporate bankruptcy.
The choice by the World Bank of the respective indicators is based on the analysis of its effects on innovation, productivity, growth and employment, as well as on the ability to make objective observations on their characteristics. For example, in each one of the areas, time is quantified, together with the formalities and costs that a typical company incurs in achieving what is needed for its activity. In short, the choice of the indicators is based on the legal certainty, simplicity and transparency of the legislation on the economic activity. Labour legislation is also analysed, although this field does not appear on the global indicator.
The so-called 'Distance to the Border' is measured in these 10 areas, which plots the distance for each indicator of each country that best performs in each indicator. Based on the 10 individual indicators, a global classification is drawn up of the business climate in each of the 190 countries subject to this analysis.
This ranking seeks to influence countries in adopting reforms that facilitate innovation, productivity and employment, whilst sending out a signal to investors on the conditions of the context in relation to investment projects. This analysis is made for each country based on the study of legislation, whilst also taking into account the extent to which this legislation reflects on business practice.
Non official translation
Workers in an office