Escrivá hopes that the CEOE's discomfort due to the rise in contributions does not "threaten" the pension reform

He defends the rise in the contribution base and stresses that the data shows that Spain "does not have a labor cost problem"

VITORIA, 14 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, has assured that there is "very little" left to complete the reform of the pension system, and has expressed his hope that a possible agreement on this matter with the CEOE will not be seen "Threatened" by the employer's discomfort with the rise in the maximum contribution bases for Social Security promoted by the central government.

Escrivá, in statements to the media in Vitoria-Gasteiz, has once again responded this Friday to criticism from the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations of the Executive's decision to raise the maximum contribution base by 8.6% without previously addressing this issue with the social agents.

The vice president of the CEOE, Íñigo Fernández de Mesa, affirmed on Thursday that the employers' association remains "open to dialogue" on the pension reform, although he warned that there is a "lack of trust" in the business organization towards the Government due to measures such as the aforementioned increase in the maximum contribution base.

The minister has shown this Friday his hope that this negotiation will not be "threatened" by the discomfort of the CEOE regarding the increase in the maximum base for Social Security contributions.

In this sense, he recalled that the Executive has reached "many" agreements with employers and unions in recent months. As an example, he has cited the agreement reached last July on the contribution scheme for self-employed workers.

In the case of the modification of the pension system, he recalled that "there is very little left to complete the entire reform", for which he has reiterated that he hopes that this measure can finally go ahead with the support of the employers.

In addition, as he has been doing since this measure was announced, he has stated that the increase in the maximum contribution base "in line with inflation" is an "absolutely reasonable measure to maintain the sufficiency of Social Security". Escrivá has also reiterated that it is a decision "that responds to what has been done in other years."

The minister stated that the pension reform and this increase in the maximum contribution base are "different plans", given that in the case of the modification of the pension system, it is "a reform thirty years ahead". On the contrary, the increase in the maximum contribution base is a measure "that has normally always been done by the different governments in the area of ​​one-year budgets."

Escrivá has rejected that, as the CEOE maintains, this increase could negatively affect employment. The minister stressed that, when adopting this type of measure, the Government "analyzes all the elements". In this sense, he has pointed out that "Spain does not have a problem of aggregate labor costs".

"When we compare with the countries around us and with the evolution that labor costs are having, which are fundamentally wages but also social contributions, we do not observe any problem of competitiveness", he added.

The minister, who has stated that the Government is not going to back down regarding the increase in the maximum contribution bases, has shown his willingness to hold an "informed and rigorous" debate on the data on labor costs in Spain and on their comparison with respect to neighboring countries that are "the main competitors" of the Spanish State.