The Basque Government gave EH Bildu the deadline for 2019 budgets to be approved this Wednesday. Faced with the impossibility of reaching an agreement, the Basque Government withdrew its last proposal on Thursday morning. The complementarity of minimum pensions has been one of the most important points that the agreement has made impossible.

Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, has accused EH Bildu of “farsa” instead of negotiating, “they have acted with the expectations of bona fide pensioners knowing that they have not negotiated this issue because it is not our competence.”

One of EH Bildu’s proposals was that the lower pension increases should be applied on the basis of Income Guarantee. The President of the Basque Country Buru Batzar, Andoni Ortuzar, said that it is "impossible" to approve this proposal, as it would mean a budgetary cost of EUR 20 million more.

Maddalen Iriarte regretted the Basque Government's decision and stressed that this is an economically "viable" proposal, "20 million budgets, out of a total of 11.8 billion, but the Executive's response has been no." With this measure, the Abertzale coalition intends to raise the minimum pensions for 2019 to 858 euros.

Arnaldo Otegi considers that the PNV has felt "vertigo" in the negotiation of budgets and that, finally, the employers have agreed to what they want. Otegi added that they are in front of a ‘weak’ government and that they have lied to people saying there is no money because there is no money.

Finally, the Minister of Finance and Economy, Pedro Azpiazu, wished to convey a message of “tranquillity”, “the Basque Government has the necessary mechanisms to continue guaranteeing the welfare and economic development of Basque citizenship”.