Milei aims for Congress to pass labor reform in February extraordinary sessions

President Javier Milei issued a decree ordering Congress to carry out extraordinary sessions during February, a month in which the parliament is normally on summer break. The goal is for lawmakers to pass four key bills, including a labor reform and the Mercosur-European Union trade agreement. The extraordinary sessions will extend from February 2 until the 27th, finishing one day before the official reopening of Congress and the start of the ordinary period, on March 1. Milei already had Congress carry out extraordinary sessions during the last three weeks of December, right after the ordinary period ended at the end of November. During those 20 days, lawmakers approved the 2026 budget bill the first for Milei and a new law that applies the principle of innocence to tax evasion, known as fiscal innocence law. Now, Milei aims for Congress to pass some of the bills that were not debated in December. Lawmakers will only be allowed to address the provisions detailed in the decree calling for the extended sessions period. If they want to introduce other bills, they will need consent from the president. Milei has called for extraordinary Congress sessions every summer since he took office to debate controversial issues. During the first two months of his presidency in early 2024, he filed a massive reform bill in Congress known as omnibus bill, which was not approved at the time but passed later that year.  In 2025, he called on lawmakers to debate suspending Argentinas primary elections and an anti-graft law, both of which were approved. 2026 summer sessions agenda 2026 will be no exception, as Milei once again has filed controversial bills for debate during the extraordinary sessions period. The two most contentious proposed legislations are the labor reform and a bill that seeks to weaken a law that protects glaciers. The labor reform is aimed at loosening employment regulations and discouraging litigation against employers in a bid to make it easier for companies to hire people. If approved, it would introduce new severance pay calculations for workers who are dismissed without cause, and workers could be paid in foreign currency or even food or other products. Unions protested against the bill in December and threatened a nationwide strike. Demonstrations against the proposal are expected to intensify while Congress debates it in February. The modification of the glaciers protection law aims to change certain segments of the norm with the goal of allowing mining in areas surrounding large ice masses. It has raised concern in environmentalist groups and some sectors of the opposition. The third bill the government wants Congress to debate is the Mercosur-EU trade agreement, which was formally signed on Saturday after the European member states approved it on January 9. Congress needs to ratify the deal for it to become effective in Argentina, although the European Parliament and the European Council must also approve it. The fourth item in the Congress agenda is Mileis nomination of Fernando Iglesias as Argentine ambassador to Brussels and before the European Union. Iglesias was head of the lower house foreign affairs commission until December, when his four-year term as deputy ended. In that role, he followed the Mercosur-EU deal closely. The embassy position in Brussels had been vacant since June, and the one before the EU since mid-2024. His designation will be key for the government to follow any developments in the Mercosur-EU accord. You may also be interested in: What benefits and challenges does the Mercosur-EU deal bring for Argentina?