The PP persists in its rejection of the pension reform passed in Congress this Thursday, also with the express approval of the European Union this Friday. “We are analyzing this reform, but it is clearly a reform going in the right direction,” said European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas during an informative breakfast organized by the Nueva Economía Forum in Madrid. Despite the words of the commissioner – also from the European community – the leadership of the PP does not deviate an inch from the position established during the debate on the legislative decree in the House of Commons, in which the people voted against. “The statements made by the Vice President and friend are institutional statements,” said PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo. “I understand that he wanted to say that it is necessary to present a pension reform in the same way that France and Spain are doing and that they are on the right track. If you compare the two reforms, you will see that they are completely different,” added the president of the main opposition party in statements to the media in Elche.
So, Feijóo tried to circumvent the words specifically said by Schinas by going through the vice president’s statements. “A rule was passed yesterday that does not guarantee the sustainability of pensions for decades to come,” Feijóo continued. “There will be no sustainable system unless we stop being the country with the highest unemployment in the EU. Therefore, any pension reform must aim at job creation,” he added, questioning whether Brussels would support the initiative being pushed by the coalition government. “This pension reform does not have the approval of the Commission, at least for the time being.” On the other hand, Schinas not only specified that the reform was “on the right track”, but also explicitly alluded to sustainability: “Like France, Spain is taking measures to ensure the sustainability of its social security systems and pensions”.
The Minister for Social Security, José Luis Escrivá, maintained “intensive” contacts with the Commission from the beginning of the pension reform this year until provisional approval from Brussels. That green light hasn’t officially arrived, and won’t until Spain requests the fourth payment of its recovery plan (the section that pension reform corresponds to). When the executive requests this payment, Brussels makes this agreement official. What has been heard from the municipal capital so far are phrases reported by Schinas, the Greek vice-president of the commission and historically very close to his Spanish co-religionists of the PP Manuel V Gomez.
In the same vein as Feijóo, Juan Bravo, the PP’s deputy economic secretary, tries to interpret what the vice president said. “The Spanish government had committed [a hacer la reforma] In December. [Schinas] It has not entered into the analysis of the reform,” Bravo claimed, implying that Schinas’ positive words responded to the executive’s mere “obligation” to make the changes ordered by Brussels, without praising the concrete measures in the text. “He did not address the fact that there was no agreement from the other political groups or from Airef [Autoridad Fiscal] does not endorse it. He has said that we are going in the right direction so that others can see that we are doing things, even if we are doing them late,” Bravo stressed at a press conference at party headquarters, detailing the dates that they certify, according to the PP, that the Spanish economy is “declining”.
The President of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, visits the Pikolinos shoe factory together with the President of the PP of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón (second from right), the PP candidate for Elche, Pablo Ruz (left) and the directors of the shoe company Rosana Peran and Carolina Peran. Manuel Lorenzo (EFE)
Regarding the pension system, the deputy economy minister has assured that if the People’s Party comes into government after the general elections scheduled for later this year, it will “automatically” overturn the text approved by Congress on Thursday. However, the leadership of the PP continues without presenting an alternative calculation as a proposal for the pension system, defending the population. However, Bravo has pointed to changes in other economic indicators as a formula to address the sustainability of the benefits. The dynamism of the labor market with the creation of 1.7 million jobs or the reduction in inflation are among the bets made by the population to cover the cost of care.
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Of course, the Deputy Economy Minister has defended that any other model they offer must first be discussed in the Toledo Pact and will “incorporate” the ideas of the rest of the political formations, in addition to guaranteeing that there will be no cuts . Sources from the PP leadership assure that they are already “working” on their own calculation, which they would present to the rest of the parties, but for the moment they prefer not to disclose their bases.
As an example, Feijóo cited French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform a week ago – which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64 – compared to the one agreed in Spain. Sources in the PP leadership oppose raising Spain’s retirement age, which is already beyond that number, but advocate “fiscal incentives” for those who wish to “voluntarily” delay their retirement.
Likewise, Bravo has accused Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of “misleadingly” and “misrepresenting the truth” in his X-ray of the country’s economic progress and of “fabricating up” the data. From the PP executive they assume that “Spain is not in crisis”, but that those who are “in crisis” are the families.