The last episode on pension cuts in southern Europe: The different constitutional interpellations

Abstract

The relationship between the measures taken by the governments of southern Europe and its constitutionality exams has not been easy, as evidenced by the Portuguese paradigmatic case. Among recent measures to contain public spending, Spain and Italy included the suspension of pension revaluation in 2012 (and 2013). However, it has gone unnoticed that the chronological coincidence of these measures has forced their respective Constitutional Courts to rule on the matter, with different outcome. The aim of this paper is to connect both situations from a comparative point of view, firstly introducing the matter through the principles of the revaluation mechanisms, the dynamics of both legal figures, and the previous experiences in suspension of the revaluation; secondly, the legal approaches of both Courts, the ratio decidendi of both judgments and finally the doctrinal reviews.