The pension reform is about to be completed and clearly marks the difference between its supporters and detractors both in the field of social agents and in the political arena. The dialogue table meeting ended yesterday with a lot of progress and only a couple of outstanding points that prevented the unions from giving their approval. In any case, it's up to you.
CCOO and UGT expect a new document today and have already convened their governing bodies for Wednesday to take a definitive position. On the other hand, the CEOE has reaffirmed its refusal. The proposal is "regressive", and will not have the support of the business organizations", said the director of Labor Relations of the employer, Rosa Santos, when she left the meeting.
And on the political scene, the differences are also well marked. Yesterday the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, flatly rejected the reform. He considers it another example of "Sánchez's misgovernance" and "a patch until 2025 to keep pulling to finish the legislature". The leader of the PP described the proposal as "pseudo-reform", and added that "Sánchez wants everyone to pay more to get the same thing and that it will be more difficult to achieve it", and also that the president of the Spanish Government "will have to charge with the responsibility of a reform which, it seems, is full of loopholes".
From the moment the reform proposal was presented, the employer clearly opposed the approaches it incorporates. Yesterday, Lorenzo Amor, the president of the Association of Self-Employed Workers (ATA), stated that it is "an axe" and that it will "pave the way for the underground economy". Amor acknowledged that employers know that it is necessary to guarantee pensions, but they disagree on the fact that it is necessary to do so by increasing social contributions.
To cover the increase in expenses, new sources of income are incorporated, with the elimination of the cap on maximum pensions, and through the intergenerational equity mechanism (MEI) and the solidarity quota.
Precisely, with respect to this solidarity quota, this is where one of the unions' objections remains. They demand "that the provision that each year's budget law can limit the scope of the solidarity quota disappear", in the words of Carlos Bravo, of CCOO. Another point that the unions are asking for are guarantees on the level of minimum pensions. The truth is that the negotiation seems about to close. "We could have an agreement tomorrow (today, Tuesday), when they send the final text", said Fernando Luján, of UGT, and that is why the two unions have already convened their highest management bodies.
A first public statement from Brussels also arrived yesterday. The Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, confirmed the "positive and constructive" spirit of the intense talks during the last month in particular with the Spanish authorities, at the highest level, on the reform of public pensions, although He did not want to give details. "The contacts focused on how the Spanish authorities will deal with the issue of financial stability in the pension reform, which is contained in the recovery plan. The discussion was positive and constructive" but "it is up to the Spanish Government to announce its decision on what it wants to propose to Parliament". The European Commission, he added, will be responsible after "evaluating these proposals".
