According to the order, the working group begins on Thursday and must present a final report with proposals and recommendations in early 2026.
The Government created a working group to propose measures aimed at pension reform with a view to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the social security system in Portugal.
The order, which is signed by and to which Lusa had access, states that the working group will have “the mission of deepening the analysis of the issue of long-term sustainability of the social security system and proposing the definition of strategic lines of action, developing feasible proposals aligned with the best national and European practices, ensuring a robust, inclusive system prepared to face future demographic and economic challenges“.
According to the order, the working group begins on Thursday and must present a final report with proposals and recommendations in early 2026.
However, Minister Rosário Palma Ramalho says that the working group must present a report on July 30 and, depending on “the progress of the work”, some points of the order may be revised.
Working group made up of 10 people
The governor justifies the creation of this working group, made up of 10 people, with what is foreseen in the Government program, which established as a priority the commitment to the sustainability and modernization of the social security system, with the recommendations of the Court of Auditors, in which audit highlighted the need to ensure the financial stability of the system, and with the of Social Security and the specific recommendation for Portugal from the European Commission.
Focus on the Sustainability of the Pension System
According to the document, the working group will carry out “an actuarial review of the global contribution rate of the Social Security System” and “promote an integrated analysis of the sustainability, adequacy and intra and intergenerational equity of public social protection systems, encompassing the System Social Security, the convergent social protection regime of Caixa Geral de Aposentações, and the Citizenship Social Protection System, considering the different eventualities covered, with a long-term strategic vision of the Integrated Social Security System”.
The working group’s missions are also to “promote an integrated analysis of the sustainability of the pension system encompassing the Citizenship Social Protection System and the Social Security System, with a long-term strategic vision of the Integrated Social Security System” and to make “a analysis of the sustainability of the Caixa Geral de Aposentações convergent Social Protection Regime”, in addition to “defining strategies and evaluating proposals that guarantee the long-term sustainability of the pension system and improve their adequacy and equity.”
Analysis of the early retirement scheme
The order also indicates that the working group must “develop complementary collective initiative and individual initiative regimes and the public capitalization regime” to offer taxpayers “greater flexibility and personalized options“ with the aim of reinforcing “the savings and resilience of the system” and “studying partial retirement mechanisms that facilitate the gradual transition between active life and retirement, evaluating the impact of these measures on the financial sustainability of the system and the adequacy of social benefits” .
The early retirement regime will also be analyzed by the working group, highlighting the minister that it must be given “priority to policies that encourage remaining in active life e increase the volume of contributions, promoting the sustainability of the system in the medium and long term”.
“The working group must present concrete proposals that allow the implementation of each objective, as well as identifying the associated risks and impacts”, the order also states.
