According to the Council of Ministers’ statement, the Government approved the decree-law that increases the fixed component of the Military Condition Supplement from the current 100 to 300 euros this year, with retroactive effects from July 1. This component will be increased to 350 euros on January 1, 2025, and to 400 euros on January 1, 2026.
The same decree includes other measures from the National Defense package, previously announced by the Government on July 26, such as improving the conditions for granting the residence supplement, which will take effect on January 1, 2025; increasing the air service supplement, which will be implemented in phases between January 2025 and January 2026; and the creation of two new supplements, to be applied from January next year: the explosive device detection and deactivation supplement and the hyperbaric chamber operator supplement.
The executive also approved the revision of the application conditions and the increase of the boarding supplement, “in phases between January 1, 2025, and January 1, 2026.”
According to the statement, the Government approved another decree-law that establishes a salary increase for military personnel in the Private category and for military personnel in the ranks of Subsargeant/Corporal and Second Subsargeant/Second Corporal, “with the alteration of their remuneration structure and the increase of their remuneration levels, in phases between January 1, 2025, and January 1, 2026.”
The allocation of 100% support for the portion not covered by the National Health Service (SNS) for pensioner beneficiaries of the Former Combatant Statute (EAC) and the increase to 90% of the co-payment for psychotropic medications for non-pensioner beneficiaries of this statute were also approved, and the Government wants them to come into effect in phases between 2025 and 2026.
Lastly, the executive approved a decree-law that recognizes the right of military and militarized personnel of the Armed Forces to special compensation for permanent disability or death, “which varies between 150 to 250 times the value of the minimum wage, with retroactive effects to two years before the date of its entry into force.”
The Government argues that it has implemented “the largest combined update of salaries and supplements, support in case of disability or death in service of military personnel, and health support for former combatants in democracy,” recognizing the “irreplaceable role of the Armed Forces as an expression of sovereignty” and fulfilling “the assumed purpose of valuing and dignifying the military career, necessary to reverse a cycle of systematic decrease in the number of personnel in the ranks, attracting and retaining human resources.”
According to the estimate of the PSD/CDS-PP executive, the announced measures will have a budgetary impact of 120 million euros in the third year of application, that is, in 2026.
