Javier Milei once again clashed with the Argentine Congress, whose Senate voted on Thursday to reject the mega decree to deregulate the country. However, for the package of measures that aim to remove a good part of the total bureaucracy to be entirely rejected, it will also have to be voted down by the Chamber of Deputies, which does not yet have a date set for the vote.
Just days after taking office, and with Congress on vacation, the president announced a large package of measures to remove much of the local bureaucracy. These measures were framed in what is locally known as the Emergency Necessity Decree (DNU). Protected by Article 99 of the national constitution, it allows the president to legislate in exceptional situations and to take urgent measures that cannot wait.
The opposition took advantage of the libertarian's lack of legislators and rejected the DNU in the Senate, with 42 votes against and only 25 in favor.
Nunca vi una cosa igual. La resistencia al cambio y la defensa de los privilegios es tan profunda... pero nosotros seguimos de pie, sin rendirnos, sin dar marcha atrás.
Vamos a cambiar el país, a pesar de todos los que destruyen al gobierno. No se preocupen: nos arreglamos sin…
— Patricia Bullrich (@PatoBullrich) March 14, 2024
Now, what will happen to the decree?
The Senate vote does not affect the validity of the DNU since both chambers of Congress must reject it. Therefore, if the deputies approve, the text will remain valid.
Hours after its announcement in December, Milei had clarified that the package of measures aimed to begin the "reconstruction" of the country and "return freedom and autonomy to individuals."
Why is it important to Milei?
The decree contains much of the president's agenda, particularly related to freeing up a large part of the economy. This is why the government has already announced that they have "plan B and plan C" in case the deputies finally overturn the package of measures.
Así fue el momento en el que el Senado rechazó el DNU de Javier Milei.
👉 https://t.co/q2dPtH1d6P pic.twitter.com/fU4sefdzaO
— Corta 🏆 (@somoscorta) March 14, 2024
One by one, all the points of Javier Milei's deregulatory decree
- Repeal of the Rental Law: so that the real estate market begins to run smoothly again and renting is not such a challenging endeavor.
- Repeal of the Supply Law so that the state never again attacks individual property rights.
- Repeal of the Gondolas Law so that the state stops getting involved in the decisions of Argentine businesses.
- Repeal of the National Purchase Law that only benefits specific powerful figures.
- Repeal of the Price Observatory of the Ministry of Economy to avoid persecution of companies.
- Repeal of the Industrial Promotion Law.
- Repeal of the Trade Promotion Law.
- Repeal of the regulations that prevent the privatization of public companies.
- Repeal of the State companies regime.
- Transformation of all state companies into limited public companies that can then be privatized.
- Modernization of the labor regime to facilitate the job creation process of genuine employment.
- Reform of the Customs Code to facilitate international trade
- Repeal of the Land Law to promote investments
- Modification of the Fire Management Law
- Repeal of the obligations that sugar mills have regarding sugar production
- Liberation of the legal regime applicable to the wine sector
- Repeal of the national mining trade system and the Information Bank Mining
- Authorization for the transfer of the total or partial share package of Argentinian airlines
- Implementation of the open skies policy
- Modification of the Civil and Commercial Code to reinforce the principle of contractual freedom between the parties
- Modification of the Civil and Commercial Code to guarantee that the obligations contracted in foreign currency must be paid in the agreed currency
- Modification to the regulatory framework of prepaid medicine and social works
- Elimination of price restrictions on the prepaid industry
- Incorporation of prepaid medicine companies into the social works regime
- Establishment of the electronic prescription to streamline service and minimize costs
- Modifications to the regime of pharmaceutical companies to promote competition and reduce costs
- Modification of the Companies Law so that football clubs can become corporations if they so wish
- Deregulation of satellite internet services
- Deregulation of the tourism sector by eliminating the monopoly of travel agencies
- Incorporation of digital tools for automotive registration procedures
