Like a letter to the Post Office, or almost: in Spain, the deputies validated this Thursday the pension reform of the left-wing government, which plans to make the highest income earners contribute more while maintaining the retirement age at 67 years.
Neither demonstrations, nor confrontations with the police… Unlike that of President Emmanuel Macron in France, the reform of the socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez has managed in recent weeks to prevail in “social peace”, in his words, despite from criticism from the right-wing opposition and business.
Approved in mid-March by the Government through a decree, the text received the final green light on Thursday from the majority of the deputies, with 179 votes in favor, 104 votes against and 61 abstentions, in particular thanks to the support of the political parties. Basque and Catalan separatists.
This “broad support” will make it possible to “modernize our retirement system” and reinforce “its fairness and sustainability,” the Minister of Social Security, José Luis Escrivá, the standard bearer of this measure, greeted on Twitter.
Negotiated by the socialists with the radical left wing Podemos, their ally in the ruling coalition, this text, which is the last stage of a reform that has been carried out in phases for two years, was also discussed with the social partners.
“History” for unions
Aimed at rebalancing the Spanish pension system, threatened by the aging of the population, this reform specifically provides for increasing the contribution base, that is, the part of the salary on which workers contribute, in order to contribute to a greater extent to those with higher income
It also endorses an increase in the contribution, in particular from employers, to the “intergenerational equity mechanism”, which feeds a “reserve fund” created to deal with the tensions expected when the “baby boom” generation of the 1960s -70s will reach retirement age.
On the other hand, the text does not affect the legal retirement age, which should gradually increase to 67 years in 2027, by virtue of a reform ratified in 2011 under a previous socialist government. However, some people will be able to keep going out at age 65 if they have contributed for at least 38 years and six months.
This reform, to which the European Commission gave the green light, was one of the main counterparts demanded by Brussels in exchange for the granting of funds from the European recovery megaplan, of which Spain is one of the main beneficiaries with 140,000 million euros. .
Supported by the two main workers’ unions, UGT and Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) who hailed a “historic agreement”, however it was criticized by the main business organizations who believe that it “will increase the cost of labor and “endanger employment”. creation”.
“Adhesive plaster” for the right
A few months before the legislative elections scheduled for the end of 2023, the leader of the Popular Party (PP, right), Alberto Núñez Feijoo, questioned the feasibility of the reform… when comparing it with that of Emmanuel Macron, who raised retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
“It’s just a plaster” that will only last “until 2025”, he denounced, believing that Spain was doing “the exact opposite” of France, which, for its part, opted for a “sustainable” reform in a context of “social security”. tensions”.
Des propos jugés “déconcertants” par José Luis Escriva, who defended mercredi in an entertainer with the quotidien El Pais, the solidité of his reform but also the suivie method by the government, allowing progress on a subject or the “consensus” it’s hard”.
A message endorsed by the head of the first French trade union (CFDT), Laurent Berger, in the columns of the same newspaper. In France “compromise is not sought”, unlike Spain, where the reform gave rise to “consultations between the unions and the Government”, he judged.
Source: BFM TV
