The draft law on the reform of special pensions will be debated by the specialized committee in the Chamber of Deputies

The draft law on the reform of special pensions will be debated by the specialized committee in the Chamber of Deputies tomorrow.

This is a goal of the governing coalition and an important milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, on which the allocation of European money depends.

The representatives of the government claim that the amendments submitted to the law that passed the Senate comply with the commitments in the NRRP, while the opposition believes that the proposed changes are not significant.

The project passed by the Senate will be substantially modified in the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body. Several amendments have been tabled, including a phased increase in the standard retirement age from 60 to 65 and a minimum of 25 years of service to qualify for the allowance. In addition, it will not be possible to accumulate several special pensions.

Also, beneficiaries of special pensions that will exceed the average gross salary for the economy, i.e. 6.789 lei, will bear a tax of 30 percent of the part that does not represent contribution. The representatives of the government claim that the submitted amendments comply with the commitments in the NRRP, stressing that Romania needs European money for investments.

From the opposition, USR claims that the proposed changes are insignificant, and AUR warns of constitutionality issues. Another project on the agenda of the legislature is the one related to the elimination of paid and future pensions of senators and deputies, submitted, again, by the PSD after a similar initiative of the social democrats failed at the Constitutional Court.

USR announces that it will vote on any project that provides for the elimination of special pensions, if it complies with the constitutional provisions.

Translated by: Radu Matei