One-stop shop for businesses now open

The City Council has signed up to the Finestreta Única Empresarial (FUE), a one-stop shop for business procedures. The move means over 185,000 companies and self-employed professionals in Barcelona will be able to use its services and complete all administrative procedures relating to their activity in a single place, whether local, regional or national.

27/01/2022 14:28 h

Ajuntament de Barcelona

The FUE is now present in 97% of municipalities and offers service to 95% of the population. This covers over 650,000 self-employed people and companies in Catalonia. According to Idescat data for 2020, that means 375,267 self-employed professionals and 279,481 companies.

A further eleven municipalities are currently in the process of signing up to the service, between them representing 5% of the population of Catalonia: Sabadell, Castelldefels, Vilafranca del Penedès, Sant Quirze del Vallès, Les Franqueses del Vallès, Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Argentona, Pallejà, Calonge, Viladasens and Fontanilles.

The goal of the agreement is for the FUE model to evolve in line with Act 18/2020. In the next four years, the signatory administrations will work together to achieve the following goals:

  • Default digital relationship.
  • Business channel as a single portal.
  • Rollout of the evolved FUE model in the local sphere.

The process is expected to reduce and simplify procedures, increase transparency and do away with waiting times to start a business activity. This should achieve an estimated overall saving of 38.4 million euros a year for businesses and the self-employed, once the law is fully rolled out.

Joining the FUE corresponds to one of the measures in the “Easy Barcelona” plan, launched by the city in 2021 to reduce administrative procedures for starting a business activity.

The step was possible thanks to the agreement with the Government of Catalonia, the provincial councils of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, the Association of Catalan Municipalities (ACM), the Federation of Catalan Municipalities (FMC) and the Open Administration Consortium of Catalonia (AOC). The services offered by the FUE are available telematically via the Business Channel, or in person, at the network of Business Management Offices (OGE).

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