MADRID, 30 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Plenary Session of Congress has validated this Thursday the decree law that includes the reform of the pension system, which has finally had a broad support of 179 votes in favor, the rejection of PP and Ciudadanos and the abstention of Vox.

Specifically, the PSOE, Unidas Podemos, Esquerra Republicana (ERC), PNV, PDeCAT, Coalición Canaria, Compromís, PRC, Teruel Existe and Más País have voted in favor. On their side, Vox, Junts and EH Bildu have abstained, while the PP, Ciudadanos, Foro Asturias, the CUP and the BNG have voted against.

Once the decree has been validated, it has also been approved to process the reform as a bill and thus allow parliamentary groups to negotiate new modifications to the text.

The pension reform reached Congress with the approval of the European Commission and also of the unions. The new system focuses on raising system revenues to cope with the financial strains of baby boomer retirement in the 1930s and 1940s.

In an initial intervention in the Lower House, the Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, José Luis Escrivá, has defended what is the second leg of the pension reform, which in his opinion “allows us to address the demographic challenge” through of a “set of balanced measures” that will guarantee the “sufficiency” of the system.

This new system, which would enter into force on April 1, except for certain provisions thereof, contemplates increases in maximum bases and contributions, improvements in minimum pensions and the establishment of a dual model to calculate the pension, which will give the option to choose between the last 25 years of contributions or 29 years, discarding in this case the two worst.

In addition, with the new reform, the mutual collaborators of the Social Security will no longer have the possibility of contacting the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) in the event that the public health service rejects their registration proposal.