In December, the Government quickly closed a text for the unemployment benefit reform that respected the guidelines set by Brussels and even the drafts that the Departments of Labor and Economy had prepared. Four months later, after this royal decree-law was knocked down in the Congress of Deputies, these rushes seem to have dissipated. Spain has negotiated with the European Commission a margin of two months to move forward with the measure that comes to an end on May 20, but sources from the Ministry of Labor reject that this period will be sufficient to approve it, because it would imply concluding the negotiation. . open with social agents and overcome the parliamentary process.
The reform of the unemployment assistance level is linked to the fourth payment of the Next Generation funds endowed with 10,000 million euros, so failure to meet one of these milestones could lead to a partial payment. At the moment, the Executive is not working on this scenario, although the sources consulted admit that it would not be serious given that the text being worked on with employers and unions already had the green light from the European Commission. Two other countries have already received fractional disbursements, but so far the Government has tried to avoid this scenario through the negotiation that resulted in the additional margin of two months, after the deadline was already extended again due to the elections. . general.
Proof of this is that Spain formally requested the payment on December 20, 2023 and took the set of rules linked to its receipt to the last meetings of the Council of Ministers of that year. However, the five votes against Podemos disrupted the Government’s plans to have everything tied up on March 20, when the three months in which the body chaired by Ursula von der Leyen had to carry out the analysis of the 61 milestones and ob . jectives. And they also led Pedro Sánchez’s team to discard the royal decree-law as a way to approve legislation and resort to the bill format, the figure through which the Government can promote an initiative in the Lower House and on which Groups can propose amendments – modification proposals.
This change necessarily implies an extension of deadlines. In the scenario of not having all parliamentary support tied up, the Government would have to negotiate with the key groups to achieve a sufficient majority – something that it hopes to be able to channel through the changes that the unions can incorporate. Furthermore, the text could be processed urgently in the Congress of Deputies, since it is the political forces that make up the Government that control the Table, although in the Senate the timing would be in the hands of the Popular Party, the who in this case might be willing to put in less work because it is a matter linked to European funds.
Before moving to the parliamentary stage, it is necessary for the representatives of the employers’ association and the unions to close a text with the portfolio of Yolanda Díaz at the negotiation table that was convened in the month of January. The negotiators assume that the employers do not sign an agreement with the ministry and the unions, but their spokespersons continue to attend meetings and have sent some proposals. However, there are still some matters to iron out between the other two interlocutors, so government sources believe that the negotiation will extend for another few weeks, the nuance that is definitive to adjust the times before that May 20 marked on the calendar.
For the moment, the only progress achieved between the parties that has emerged is the Government’s willingness to equalize the coverage of unemployment benefits for part-time workers, a point that CEOE had also questioned due to the negative effects it implied in terms of employment. gender. The royal decree-law that reached the chamber established that those who had contributed part-time, something that was repaired in the case of aid intended for those over 52 years of age, so that the grievance occurred against women and the unemployed . younger. Labor promised to modify it in the last meeting, as reported by both UGT and CCOO, although this occurred more than a month ago.
The workers’ representatives had also focused on the Multiple Effects Public Income Indicator (IPREM), which determines the amount of the subsidy and which they denounce, has become completely outdated compared to the increases in the CPI. CCOO advocated raising the reference, while UGT proposed that it be directly replaced by the risk of poverty threshold, the indicator used to establish minimum pensions. Sumar had partially assumed this task in the negotiation of the General State Budgets with the PSOE, in which the objective of raising it by 3% (18 euros) had been set, but the renunciation of preparing public accounts for this year also has altered these plans.
While it remains pending to find an alternative for the point that motivated the vote against Podemos. The purple ones considered it unfair that the contribution of the subsidy for those over 52 years of age, established at 125% of the minimum base in the design now in force, was cut to 100% of the reference that is given by the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI). ). ). The Government defended that this ‘patch’ was designed to repair a minimum income that was insufficient, which is why they believed it was meaningless once it had increased by 54% since 2018, since it could operate as a disincentive to job search. . The unions proposed alternatives, but the Executive works with the intention of making minimal changes.
