Basque citizens currently do not have their own public pension system – although this is required by trade unions and nationalist parties – because they lack national sovereignty and depend on what is decided in Madrid and Paris. Thus, the Basques of the North, despite the mobilizations and strikes, have begun to suffer the consequences of a pension reform that has already been approved by the French government after passing through the National Assembly and the Senate. The Basque citizens of the South are on the verge of reform, which will be approved by the end of the year by the Spanish Government. In recent weeks and months it has been debating within the framework of the Treaty of Toledo – between political parties, employers and trade unions – and then passing through Congress and the Senate. These are mandatory procedures for later receiving the green light from the Spanish Government.

Let’s see what the debate on pension reform is in the Spanish State and what impact it can have on the Basque population. This reform has two keys: to postpone the retirement age to 67 years and to change the calculation of the retirement pension from the last 15 years to the last 20 years.

One of the aims of the Spanish Government is to postpone the retirement age from 65 to 67. This step would be carried out gradually and would begin to be implemented in 2013. How would it affect the future retiree? One of the options discussed is to postpone the retirement age by two months each year – that is, the one who retires in 2013 will do so with 65 years and two months, and so on. Those born in 1959 would retire at the age of 67.

Contribution for more years and calculation of pension

Another key to the pension reform being discussed under the Treaty of Toledo is the contribution for more years to calculate the pension that each pensioner will receive. Thus, up to now, pensions were calculated on the basis of the last fifteen years quoted by each person. There appears to be sufficient consensus to extend the contributory years to 20 years for the calculation of the pension. Apparently, this is the proposal of the Spanish government. Other actors and experts, however, are in favour of extending this period to 25 or 30 years. There are also supporters of the fact that the contribution period affects the entire working life.

In this context, what would the pension that would be charged from this reform be for future pensioners, better or worse? There is no consensus on this, but there are some studies and calculations. Thus, a simulation carried out by Antonio Antón, professor of sociology at the Autonomous University of Madrid and published by the CCOO, evaluates the extension of the contribution period from 15 to 25 years. It covers the average salary of a worker between 35 and 39 years of age, of 20,964 euros, which will be 25,469 between 55 and 59 years of age. The extension of the calculation period by 10 years, according to their calculations, is expected to result in a 5% reduction. And if in the same case it is extended to the rest of the working life, the pension reduction would be more than 16%.Another study carried out by

Labour Asociados and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Labour uses the Continuous Sample of Working Lives as a basis. According to this estimate, if the last 20 years are taken as a contribution period, a pension that is approximately 5 per cent less than the current pension would be charged. The authors of this study say that if it were extended to more years – without requiring more than 35 years to collect 100% of the pension – “the pension would be considerably reduced”.

Maximum and minimum pension

In Spain, the maximum pension in 2010 is 2,466.20 euros gross per month (34,526.80 euros per year). The minimum pensions include EUR 444,90 per month for widows under 60 years of age and EUR 725 per month for a holder aged 65 or over who is in charge of the spouse. There are tens of thousands of people who receive orphan pensions of 179.40 euros per month, or 375.70 euros per month from SOVI.