Pensions, flexibility without quotas resurfaced

We are no more than three and a half months away from the indicative 'deadline' for the definition of the economic manoeuvre for 2025 to be sent to Parliament by 20 October. And, therefore, also to the government's choice on pensions to face in 2025 the 'post Quota 103, Ape sociale and Opzione donna'. After last year's technical roundtable with the unions, which ended unsuccessfully, the executive put the pension issue in mothballs at the beginning of this year, due to the difficult public finance situation. But now that the European elections have passed, with the approach of the budget law the pensions issue is beginning to revive. The League has reiterated that Quota 41, i.e. the possibility of leaving with 41 years of contributions regardless of age, remains a priority objective to be achieved quickly. But the not brilliant electoral result obtained by Matteo Salvini seems to reduce the Carroccio's negotiating space within the majority. At the same time, however, the work of the working group created by president Renato Brunetta continues at the CNEL to define an organic document on pensions to be presented in July, which will be followed, at the beginning of October, by the preparation of a proposal for a bill to reorganise the social security system. And one of the various proposals being considered at Villa Lubin envisages a substantial return to the scheme of the Dini law with an exit flexibility calibrated on a range of ages from 64 to 72, without, therefore, recourse to the Quota system.

The weight of the cheque would increase by retiring later, since the range of nine ages (instead of the current range of 16, also produced by the derogations to the Fornero law) would be shifted to the new transformation coefficients. At the same time, the threshold for old age retirement would rise to 67 years with at least 25 years of contributions or a pension amount equal to 1.5 times the social allowance (instead of the current 67 years plus 20 years of contributions).

This, for the time being, is just one of the proposals that are taking shape at the Cnel, in order to arrive at the final choices for the definition of the final document to be finalised in July, on the basis of the contributions coming from the working group coordinated by Domenico Garofalo and composed of Antonietta Mundo, Guido Canavesi, Giuliano Cazzola, Silvia Ciucciovino, Maria Cristina Degoli, Mauro Franzolini, Mauro Marè, Valeria Picchio and Michele Raitano. Before finalising the final dossier, four technical documents should be produced in the first part of July on four topics: self-employed professionals' funds; complementary pension; compulsory pension; and contributions.

Much attention should be paid to the issue of early retirements. In a contribution by Mundo it is noted, for example, that for the 104,806 early pensions of the Inps employees' fund, which in 2023 absorbed 91.8% of the early pensions paid to newly retired private employees, the average effective age for early retirement was 61 years with average monthly amounts of 2,035 euro gross. And it is added that early retirement pensions are those with the longest duration and the highest average amounts compared to all other categories, also due to the progressive increase in longevity for both genders. In particular, 50% of old age or early retirement pensions from the past have durations of 30 years or more. That would be significantly reduced with the adoption of the flexible exit scheme from age 64 to 72. But the government seems inclined to postpone pension reform until better times. The gaze of the executive, and of the majority, for now remains focused on the 'after Quota 103' and also on a possible further tightening of the indexation mechanism of pension cheques.