The last week of the current parliamentary
\nsession was devoted to bills which target sensitive areas and which, precisely
\nfor this reason, had been long postponed. On Monday, in an almost unprecedented
\npolitical effort, Romania’s Senators and Deputies scrapped the special pensions
\ngranted to MPs. The piece of legislation under which Romanian MPs give up what
\nthe media and the public have long regarded as an immoral right, has already
\nbeen signed into law by President Iohannis.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, 2 other overdue bills were
\nendorsed. One of them no longer allows individuals to receive both public
\nsector salaries and retirement benefits, and the other is aimed at reforming
\nthe special pension system, which relies only in part on contributions during
\nthe employment period, and which benefits magistrates, military personnel,
\ndiplomats, parliamentary and court staff as well as aeronautical personnel. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In the first case, exemptions from the
\nrestriction concerning public sector salaries and pension benefits paid to the
\nsame individual at the same time triggered fiery criticism, primarily because
\nthese exemptions cover local elected officials and MPs, alongside other
\ncategories, such as teaching staff, healthcare professionals, specialist carers
\nand employees of the Romanian Academy, the National Bank of Romania, the
\nNational Energy Regulatory Authority and the Communications Regulatory
\nAuthority. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A final favourable vote was also cast on the special
\npension reform bill, but the draft submitted by the Government was
\nsignificantly amended. In this final version, the implementation of the reform
\nis basically postponed 5 years and extended until 2043. Until 2028, prosecutors,
\njudges and military personnel may retire under the same conditions as before. The
\nretirement age will be increased in several stages from 60 to 65, and minimum
\n25-year relevant seniority will be a requirement for retiring magistrates. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Pension benefits in excess of the national
\naverage net salary will be subject to taxation, but the rate will be 15%
\ninstead of the 30% originally suggested. All these provisions have been
\ndiscussed with EU experts, the PM Marcel Ciolacu said. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The reform of the special pension system is a
\nmilestone in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. USR party in Opposition,
\nwhich would have liked special pensions to be scrapped altogether, voted
\nagainst the bill, arguing that it still leaves Romania with the same number of 210,000
\nspecial pension beneficiaries as before. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
\nRomania, no longer a partner in the ruling coalition since the government
\nrotation, said a long time would pass until the system may rely exclusively on
\nlifetime contributions to pension funds. Even this version of the law, which according
\nto analysts saw its most radical provisions amputated, annoyed the Higher
\nCouncil of Magistrates. They disapprove of the amendments and claim Parliament
\noverlooked constitutional principles and endorsed measures that cause irreparable
\ndamages to the independence of the judiciary and of magistrates. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Parliament endorsed a reform of the special pension system, criticised both by the Opposition and by magistrates<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":73974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[38412,32234,29721,29268,33562,30162,35348],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-96190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-contribution","tag-funds","tag-law","tag-parliament","tag-pension","tag-reform","tag-special"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n