The Minister of Inclusion and Social Security, José Luis Escrivá, has spent months trying to carry out a pension reform. After the negotiations and some concessions, it seems that the politician has gathered the necessary support to carry out his proposal, very different from the one he initially presented. In this way, the funds will be obtained through social contributions, a dual computation and added benefits.
The application of an age computation to calculate pensions “could be problematic”, the minister pointed out in an interview for La Vanguardia. Therefore, when contemplating the possibility of extending to 29 years, it was “more equitable for young people.” Although Escrivá admits that it has an added cost, he justifies that it is “moderate” by meaning, according to his calculations, “one tenth of GDP in the long term.”
After negotiating with the European Commission, the proposal has already received the support of Brussels. This was achieved thanks to “the understanding to go for a balanced solution of incentives to get the effective retirement age closer to the legal age.” Added to the reinforcement with “additional resources” such as the “moderate” increase in social contributions.
Escrivá rejects the possibility of a counter-reform in the future because “the arguments to oppose it are very few.” In addition, he points out that they have not seen other possibilities for the model that they have presented. In fact, he makes an appeal: “I would invite everyone to tell me where the alternatives are and who has proposed them at some point in the last few months during the negotiation at the social dialogue table.”
Regarding the rise in labor costs, he indicates that it is “very small and quite manageable”. In addition, he points out that this amount is much less than the European average, so “it does not jeopardize the competitiveness of Spanish companies at all.” “It’s perfectly manageable,” he adds.
Regarding the rejection he has received from the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), he insists that he has not received any proposal from this association. Escrivá states that there has been a “change of attitude” on the part of this organization since last summer, after having approved a labor reform “that is obtaining extraordinary results.” Despite this, the minister points out that the reform will go ahead because it has been done through social dialogue and is “very solid and technically very well designed.”
The criticism from the opposition and, specifically, the qualification of the Secretary General of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, as “botch or PowerPoint”, is “a lack of respect for all the instances” that have worked to carry out the reform.
