The President emphasised that the agreement with the social partners on pensions will make it possible to "improve people's lives and build a fairer society"

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, presided over the signing ceremony at the Moncloa Palace Complex of the agreement signed by the Executive with the CEOE and Cepyme business organisations and the CC.OO. and UGT trade unions, to make retirement more flexible, better involve mutual insurance companies in health treatment and regulate professions involving arduous tasks. The event was attended by the presidents of the employers' associations, Antonio Garamendi and Gerardo Cuerva, as well as the general secretaries of the main trade unions, Unai Sordo and Pepe Álvarez. The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, were also in attendance.

Pedro Sánchez has welcomed the signing of the new measure because it will be "very important for citizens and is the result of an agreement between the Government of Spain and social stakeholders, which will serve to improve people's lives and, therefore, build a fairer society". He also thanked and congratulated the signatories of the agreement - the fourth reached between the Government of Spain and the social partners on pensions since 2020 and the twenty-first within the framework of social dialogue - and praised the "generosity, patience and professionalism" of all those involved in the negotiation, after around 20 meetings.

Compatibility with work, hazardous occupations and mutual insurance companies

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, speaks at the signing ceremony of the agreement | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The Chief Executive stressed that the new pact, which completes the pension reform, brings three important issues into play in the field of pensions. Specifically, he emphasised that it improves the compatibility of retirement pensions with work, one of the main objectives of the pension reform, protects workers in more arduous and more dangerous occupations with new coefficients to reduce the retirement age and helps to make better use of the resources of mutual insurance companies, with the aim of improving workers' health.

21 major agreements within the framework of social dialogue

"This agreement is another product of the good politics that the coalition government, employers, trade unions and the bulk of civil society have been practising in our country for the last six years", Pedro Sánchez added. In this regard, he recalled that 21 major agreements have already been reached within the framework of social dialogue since 2018 to protect incomes, jobs and companies during the pandemic, guarantee the purchasing power of pensioners and strengthen the sustainability of the public pension system.

In addition to these, agreements have been signed to make progress on work-life balance and to reduce the gender gap, as well as on the structural reform of the labour market, which were approved by the social partners and EU institutions and has managed to reduce precariousness employment to an all-time low. Pedro Sánchez highlighted the importance of reaching an agreement, which in his opinion "lies in the fact that what has been agreed is destined to last". "These are the reforms that make a country, that unite the country; those that offer solidity to the system and stand the test of time", he emphasised.

The President reiterated his "satisfaction and gratitude" to trade unions, employers and the Minister Elma Saiz, predicting that, after her first major agreement as the head of the ministry, more will follow in the coming years.

Non official translation