The chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Marcel Ciolacu, declared that on December 31 this year the discussion on the subject of special pensions will be closed through a draft law initiated by the Ministry of Labour, approved by the Government and submitted for adoption in Parliament, emphasizing that the pension reform assumed through Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) will not be done through an emergency ordinance, according to Agerpres.

He spoke, on Sunday evening, on private TV broadcaster Antena 3, about the subject of special pensions.

„The Ministry of Labor, according to the PNRR, has a milestone to initiate the law with special pensions. The ministry has the World Bank as a consultant, they finished the report and the minister made it available to the prime minister. We will meet the deadline with the milestone by December 31, come up with a law and close this chapter. My colleagues and I have never perceived the military pensions as being special, because they are occupational and exist everywhere in the world. It would be really something, with war at the longest border with the country in conflict, that we should entertain a discussion in relation to military pensions. We haven’t seen anything from the inter-ministerial meeting, but we should identify the solutions to close the discussion with special pensions. On December 31, the discussion with special pensions will be concluded,” Marcel Ciolacu said.

The leader of the social democrats also pointed out some aspects that should be taken into account when reforming the pension system, stressing that the increase in the pension point must be discussed in the area of contributions.

„There is a discussion with increasing the retirement age, but this is not set down by PSD, but by the National Liberal Party (PNL) and Save Romania Union (USR) in PNRR. It is clear that we will have to come up with an increase, but not from the next day,” said Ciolacu.

The PSD chairman gave assurances that the changes in the pension law will not be made through a Government Emergency Ordinance (OUG), referring in context to the situation of magistrates’ pensions.

„No one will change the law through the OUG, I understood that at the CSM [Superior Council of Magistracy] there were 80 magistrates who asked for retirement. This haste is a mistake, a big mistake. I promised that it is out of the question for the Government to have an OUG that changes the rules of the game overnight. The Minister of Labor will come with the Minister of Finance, together, with a draft law through the Government and will then come to debates in Parliament. What is sensible and incorrect in relation to magistrates: you cannot retire with a pension higher than your income when you were active. You can’t be a magistrate for a week and qualify for the magistrate’s pension. You need at least 10, 15 years – let the minister say. There are cracks. No one will change the rules of the game. One shouldn’t retire at 40. (…) This is not how things are done, things are done thoughtfully, with something sustainable, maybe people do their calculations how long they should be in activity. There should have been more communication on this subject, but there will not be an OUG, but a law in Parliament,” Ciolacu also declared.

Agerpres