The employers head-on rejects the pension reform proposal presented by Minister José Luis Escrivá due to the general rise in contributions that it considers that “it will reduce the wages of all workers and increase labor costs, endangering job creation”.
The CEOE considers that it is a populist proposal that “shows the government’s tax collection voracity” and that puts SMEs and the self-employed at serious risk, according to a statement published after the meeting this morning with the Ministry of Inclusion in which they He has presented the proposition. They also add that the proposal is regressive because it implies “more years of work, more contributory effort and less pension.”
Entrepreneurs especially criticize the rise in prices that comes in two ways. On the one hand, doubling the contribution of the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI), which will progressively go from the current 0.6% to 1.2% in 2029. And on the other hand, with the solidarity quota, which means taxing the entire part of the salary that does not contribute due to being above the maximum contribution ceiling. It will be taxed at 1% in 2025 and the percentage will increase to 6% in 2045.
In this way, the proposal solves the solvency of the system by acting through revenue. And this is precisely the solution that businessmen criticize.
Very different is the reaction of the unions that, from the outset, value the proposal positively in the absence of a more in-depth analysis. They especially emphasize that the orientation of the reform is to reinforce income and that the union proposal to increase the maximum contribution bases is included. They also celebrate the reinforcement of the MEI and the establishment of the solidarity quota that will affect the highest salaries. “In this way it is guaranteed that they will contribute all the salaries, establishing for the first time a contribution system for real income in the Social Security system”, affirm CC.OO. and UGT in a joint statement.