The Mediterranean countries are once again worrying Europe. The political vicissitudes of Greece, Portugal and Spain continue to worry the old continent which fears falling back into the abyss of crisis after the tiring ascent of the last two years.
If in Madrid the greatest danger is given by the ungovernability resulting from the general elections of 20 December which did not give Rajoy the absolute majority necessary to govern, in Portugal the problem would be precisely the new Executive with a socialist majority.
Yesterday, the new Premier Antonio Costa has in fact decided to cancel the privatization of local transport of Lisbon and Porto, the two most important cities of the country. A full-fledged about-face with respect to what was established by the previous right-wing executive which, as part of the austerity plan on public finances, had decreed the transfer of the management of public transport in Lisbon to the Spanish group Avanza, a company controlled by the Mexican Ado.
As far as Porto is concerned, the management of the underground should have gone to the Spanish Alsa, while the surface vehicles, according to the previous programmes, should have passed into the hands of the French Transdev. A choice that Brussels does not seem to have liked which, given the country's economic imbalances, would have much preferred the new government to continue on the path of rigor.
Ma even Greece seems to have disappointed the expectations of the European leaders. According to the latest rumors, the pension reform proposal presented on January 86 by Alexis Tsipras would not have convinced the EU since it would not have concrete effects on existing social security treatments, acting only on future pensions. A "disappointment" that jeopardizes the XNUMX billion euro aid package agreed last August after months of difficult negotiations.
In detail, the reform would provide for the merger of the six main pension funds of the various categories into a single fund, but above all for cuts on future checks between 15 and 30%. The text also establishes maximum monthly limits of 2300 euros for single pensions (-400 euros compared to current legislation) and 3.000 euros for those who accumulate more than one pension (it is currently 3.680), and a minimum monthly limit is then set 384 euros per month (the rest will depend on the contributions). Finally, the proposed reform introduces higher social security contributions: +1% for employers and +0,5% for employees.
The proposed pension law will be evaluated during talks between Athens and its creditors on the revision of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) programme, which should formally begin around 18 January.
In the meantime, the Mediterranean area continues to represent an unknown factor for the future of the old continent.
