The Plenary of Congress will vote this Thursday, July 23, on the final text of the RETA transition, which allows mutualists to transfer their funds to the public system. Senate amendments could exclude thousands of pensioners already receiving benefits.
The Plenary of the Congress of Deputies will vote this Thursday, July 23, 2026, on the final text of the RETA transition, the regulation that will allow professionals such as lawyers and procurators to transfer their accumulated funds in mutual societies to the public pension system. The initiative returns to the Lower House after the Senate introduced amendments and restrictions on July 9, and now the deputies have the final say.
The regulation establishes mechanisms to convert the alternative funds of mutual societies into pension rights. In general, it will be calculated how many years of contributions those funds are equivalent to, applying a improving coefficient of between 0.67 and 0.87 to mitigate the lack of access to benefits. Once the law is approved, the Government will have to develop the regulations that specify the calculation.
The risk of exclusion for pensioners
The lawyer and spokesperson for the RETA Transition Platform, Isabel Rabell, warns of the danger that thousands of mutualists who are already receiving a pension could be left out of the transition. “It’s a contradiction because these are the people who need this transition the most. They are left unprotected,” she laments. According to Rabell, the excuse is that the passive does not pay, but rather comes to collect, yet she differentiates between passive (who has not received a pension) and pensioner (who does receive it and would be excluded).
The Senate amendments, pushed by the PP and Junts, modify the initial text from Congress. Among the changes, it is allowed that the alternative nature does not disappear, a control system is established starting in 2030, and a minimum complement and healthcare spending clause is introduced. However, Rabell points out that PP and PSOE seem to have agreed to exclude pensioners, despite the fact that amendment 47 from the PP, approved in Congress by a lack of three votes, was initially favourable.
The keys to the parliamentary negotiation
The text reaching the Plenary of Congress includes the Senate amendments, which lifted the Government's vetoes. Six amendments from the PP were approved, including number 47, which the PP itself has been forced to amend. “That amendment was favourable with the subjective type of the transition: we all entered without any cuts or discrimination. The problem was how we entered, without updating the CPI or improving coefficients,” Rabell explains.
The spokesperson for the platform also warns about the loose ends that will remain for regulatory development, such as the excess fund that remains with the mutualists. By being condemned to minimum bases, there is a surplus that cannot remain in the mutual societies as alternative funds. “The platform would love to be allowed to complement bases, raise bases, but the law will come out on minimum bases,” she states.
For the affected mutualists, the situation is one of maximum uncertainty. Rabell reminds that the minimum complement clause comes into effect with the approval in the Plenary, without the need for regulatory development. “A mutualist, if their benefit does not reach the minimum wage, will be able to request that complement. It’s a relief for some situations,” she emphasises.
This Thursday, Congress will decide whether to greenlight a regulation that could transform the pensions of thousands of professionals, but also leave out those who need it most. The platform will closely follow the vote and is already preparing informational sessions to clarify doubts: this Wednesday at the headquarters of the General Council of the Spanish Bar Association and on July 28 at the General Council of Procurators.
You may also like
