The Decree 70/2023, titled "Bases para la reconstrucción de la economía argentina" (Spanish: Bases for the reconstruction of the Argentine economy) was signed on December 20, 2023, by the Argentine president Javier Milei. It is known in the media as "Megadecreto" ("Mega-decree") or "decretazo" for its large scope.

Announcement

The initial idea was to announce the decree on December 20, 2023, at noon. It was meant to be a defining moment of the presidency of Javier Milei: many groups of piqueteros organized a large demonstration and the government intended to prevent a traffic obstruction (unlike most former governments, who allowed it), and the decree would set the bases of the economic plan. The announcement was moved to the night, at 21:00, and it was filed at the White Hall of the Casa Rosada. Milei would read a part of the decree, with his cabinet beside him.[1] The full text of the decree was known the following day when it was formally published in the official bulletin.

Contents

The decree, comprising 366 articles, changes or revokes existing laws and decrees, with the aim of 'deregulating' the Argentinian economy.[2] Milei issued it as a "Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia" (in English: Decree of Necessity and Urgency), which allows the president to change and revoke laws unilaterally in cases of justified national urgency, and can only be overturned if rejected by both houses of the Argentine Parliament.[3] Several Argentine constitutional experts have raised concerns that this is a misuse of the form of decree.[4]

Main points

The article 958 of the Civil Code of Argentina was made optional. In the original version of the law this article arranged that the terms of a contract would be decided by the parties, and a 2015 amendment added several regulations and procedures. The new change returns it to the original version.[5]

State-owned enterprises would become S.A., and have the same risks as regular enterprises, such as bankruptcy if poorly managed. It also allows to transfer shares from the state to the employees.[5]

The decree made several changes to labor law. Compensations owed to terminated or laid off employees was reduced. Workers can freely choose their own healthcare providers, instead of having one assigned by their union. Permanent traffic obstructions against an organization, a common protest tactic by unions, were made illegal.[5]

The decree also removes the registries of importers and exporters and authorizations associated with them, a radical departure from the previous situation whose exact implementation remains unclear. The declared aim of this change is the reduction paperwork and digitalization of authorization processes.[5]

The decree abolishes rent control regulations and allows rent to be set in dollars, rather than pesos.[6]

Reactions

As a Necessity and Urgency Decree, the decree can be repealed if both houses of Congress reject it. The decree came into force during the summer recess of the Congress, which would only have the chance to consider it on March 1, 2024. This time gives Milei two months to negotiate its support with other parties in Congress, where La Libertad Avanza is in the minority. Many legislators are against it, most Peronists oppose its content and most radicals oppose the procedure of using a decree instead of a regular bill.[7] If the decree is rejected by the Congress, it would be the first case since their regulation in the 1994 amendment of the Constitution of Argentina.[8]

The decree was denounced as unconstitutional by the "Asociación Civil Observatorio del Derecho a la Ciudad", led by the former head of the Central Bank Claudio Lozano, alongside unionists Hugo Godoy and Rodolfo Aguiar. They claim that the decree goes against the principle of the separation of powers. The case was assigned to judge Esteban Furnari, who accepted it as a collective case, which means that all files against the decree would be unified in that single case.[9]

The General Confederation of Labour called for a January 24 general strike over the law, with secretary Héctor Daer referring to it as "illegal and unconstitutional".[10] [11]

References

  1. ↑ Maia Jastreblansky (December 20, 2023). "Javier Milei grabó el mensaje del megadecreto en el Salón Blanco con sus ministros y luego felicitó al Ministerio de Seguridad" [Javier Milei recorded the message of the megadecree in the White Hall with his ministers and then congratulated the ministry of security] (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Milei ameaça convocar plebiscito se Congresso revogar 'decretaço' econômico". UOL (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-12-26. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  3. ↑ "Milei enfrentará oposição na Câmara e no Senado, diz professor da USP". UOL (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  4. ↑ "Milei anuncia decreto para desregular economia e impulsionar exportações na Argentina". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-12-21. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  5. 1 2 3 4 José del Río (December 21, 2023). "Tsunami de medidas: los secretos del decreto "motosierra" que busca cambiar de raíz la economía argentina" [Tsunami of measures: the secrets of the "chainsaw" decree that aims to radically change the economy of Argentina] (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  6. ↑ "What might happen to Argentina after Milei's mega-decree?". euronews. 2023-12-23. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  7. ↑ Laura Serra (December 24, 2023). "El Congreso definirá sobre el mega DNU recién en marzo y los bloques colaborativos buscarán negociar con Milei" [The Congress will decide about the mega DNU in march and the helping blocks aim to negotiate with Milei] (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  8. ↑ Gustavo Ybarra and Laura Serra (December 22, 2023). "Fuerte rechazo en el Congreso al megadecreto de Javier Milei: se gesta una mayoría dispuesta a invalidarlo" [Strong rejection in the Congress to Javier Milei's megadecree: a majority ready to reject it is growing] (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  9. ↑ Candela Ini (December 26, 2023). "El megadecreto de Javier Milei suma más rechazos en la Justicia y piden habilitar la feria para tratar las cautelares" [Javier Milei's mega-decree adds more rejections in the judiciary and it is asked to cancel the holidays to treat the case] (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Argentina's trade union federations call for national strike on January 24". Buenos Aires Herald. 2023-12-28. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  11. ↑ "Argentine powerful union calls for January strike action". Reuters. December 28, 2023.
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