Employers“ organisations and trade unions have signed a joint statement: ”The employer’s contribution should remain within the scope of collective bargaining”

Rome, 29 May 2026 – To strengthen supplementary pensions, safeguard the role of collective bargaining and ensure the sustainability of the sectoral pension funds that embody this approach. These are the objectives of the Joint Statement signed on 26 May by the leading and most representative employers’ organisations – Confindustria, Confcommercio, Confesercenti, Confservizi, Legacoop, Confcooperative, AGCI, Confartigianato, CNA, Casartigiani and Confapi – and by the trade union organisations CGIL, CISL and UIL.

At the heart of the agreement lies a shared commitment to strengthening the second pillar of the pension system, which has been built up over the years through collective bargaining and the joint contributions of employers and employees.

The Joint Notice specifically addresses the measure introduced by the 2026 Budget Law concerning the portability of the employer’s contribution. According to the social partners, the transfer of the employer’s contribution from a collectively agreed pension fund to a private pension scheme may only take place if the relevant national collective labour agreement expressly provides for it. The employer’s contribution, in fact, forms part of an overall balance defined by collective agreements. An incorrect interpretation of the provision would risk weakening occupational pension funds and calling into question the collective and contractual model of supplementary pensions, which has been developed since 1993. The full legitimacy of contractual autonomy in determining both the amount and the allocation of the employer’s contribution is therefore reaffirmed.

The signed document also emphasises the value of occupational pension funds as instruments of effective bilateral cooperation and as an essential part of a sustainable and efficient supplementary welfare system. These funds represent an important complement to the public pension system and contribute to the social protection of workers.

The Parties also refer to Covip’s figures, which confirm the central role played by occupational pension funds in providing pension protection, not least because of their competitiveness in terms of costs and returns.

Finally, the Joint Statement calls for the launch of a structured dialogue with the institutions to further strengthen supplementary pensions. The priorities identified include more favourable tax treatment of benefits, a reduction in taxation on returns, the recognition of adequate incentives to protect investments in the real economy, and a review of the system of penalties applicable to fund governance, which is considered to have been made excessively stringent by the 2026 Budget Law.