The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, José Luis Escrivá, expressed yesterday his hope that the pension reform will be ready before the end of the month. He confirmed this after a visit to Brussels, in which he met with the Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni.
After the endorsement of the third disbursement of the recovery plan last week, Spain already has in mind closing aspects of the next tranche and in which one of the key elements is the reform of the pension system and to which the European Commission must give its approval .
For Escrivá "there are very few fringes left" to close the agreement and "very considerable progress has been made." “We are working so that we can do it this month. We are very close to being able to close the process, ”he insisted. Likewise, Escrivá added that he maintains his proposal to extend the calculation period and go from 25 to 28 years of contributions, a measure that until now has not convinced unions or parliamentary partners. The minister avoided saying an exact date, but he did insist on the little that remains, that it is "a matter of days", and that, in any case, it will be before the Easter period. He also recalled that Spain is the first country to request the third disbursement, it is the most advanced, and that this explains why the process "is more dense" and is studied in "detail".
In the fourth tranche, Spain must receive 10,000 million euros and four milestones must be completed: the adaptation of the maximum contribution base, the extension of the years for calculating the retirement pension, the implementation of the intergenerational equity mechanism and new projections that guarantee the sustainability of the system in the long term.
Three of these objectives that must be met in exchange for receiving the money (except for the equity mechanism) should have been closed at the end of last year, but the Government continues in negotiations with its partner United We Can and with the social agents. However, Escrivá was convinced of the agreement because it is "an opportunity" to make a "solid" system.
