José Luis Escrivá, Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, stated this Monday that he is currently working to present “this month” a comprehensive reform of pensions that will have “a lot of depth” and will set a “reference” for the rest of the States members of the European Union. However, it is not a closed date and he acknowledges that the process could be extended until Easter (April).
“We are working so that we can do it this month; we are very close to being able to close the process,” the minister asserted during a visit to Brussels, where he has traveled to meet with the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, and with the Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, with whom he has discussed the processes of regular, safe and orderly migration, and the reform of the pension system, respectively.
However, he has recognized that there may be a delay of “a few days”, although this delay would be “justified by what is at stake” to improve the system, but, in any case, he has guaranteed that the reform will arrive before Pope Week Noel”.
Some progress considerably
After his meeting with Gentiloni, whose team he has described as “constructive”, Escrivá has verified “considerable progress” while clarifying that it is a “denser” process, since Spain is the most advanced country in the execution of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, which means, according to the minister’s judgment, that this new system will become a “clear reference” for the rest of the countries that must undertake the same review in the coming months.
“Being the first has advantages, but it also requires a particular analysis so that the reference that we present with our reform serves for the Union as a whole,” explained Escrivá, whose Ministry depends on this key reform so that Spain can obtain the fourth disbursement of the community anti-crisis funds after having obtained last Friday a favorable report from Brussels for the third payment, endowed with 6,000 million euros.
The milestones for the next fourth payment, 10,000 million euros, also include the adjustment of the computation period for the calculation, the replacement of the sustainability factor by an intergenerational equity mechanism, the adjustment of the maximum contribution base or the sustainability of the entire system.
The minister has guaranteed that “very few fringes” remain and that “with each interaction understanding is closer on those points where there might be a need for clarification” both with the Commission and with social partners and political parties, partners including the Government.
“I think there will be an agreement because there is a general vision that this is an opportunity to create a very solid, well-financed and more equitable system; the progress is so substantial that I am convinced of the agreement,” Escrivá finally stressed.
