The draft pension law received, on Monday, an adoption report with several amendments within the Labor Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. The law is to be voted on in the plenary session of the Chamber. The parliamentarians in the committee clarified a provision in the law according to which the pensions that would have decreased after the recalculation on the new formula will remain at the current level. Another amendment was adopted in relation to the retirement age of miners. They will still be able to retire at 45.
The draft Law on the public pension system (PL-x 727/2023) is being debated, on Monday, by the Chamber of Deputies, as a decision-making body.
At the labor committee meeting, AUR MPs protested with placards. Messages such as “Woman is a treasure”, “We defend the country’s elders”, “No specials” or “We want a 60% increase” were written on them. Who gives more?”.
During the debates, former liberal Prime Minister Florin Cîțu claimed that “if this law passes, pensions and future salaries will be cut” because “Romania’s budget is already bankrupt”. “The law throws Romania into the arms of the IMF,” the former prime minister also said.
The Minister of Labor, Simona Bucura Oprescu, was also present at the committee debates.
She explained that, through the new legislation that foresees a wave of recalculations that should be completed on September 1, 2024, there will no longer be differences between pensions for the same job and for the same seniority.
Amendments adopted in committees
One of the amendments adopted in the Chamber of Deputies provides that “if, following the recalculation process provided for in para. (1), results in a lower amount of the pension than the one in payment or due, the pension is paid in the amount established and in payment prior to the recalculation, until the date when a larger amount of the pension will be obtained as a result of increasing the value of the reference point”.
Also, an amendment was adopted regarding the pensions of those who worked in difficult working conditions, after the miners’ protests. Coalition leaders have agreed that miners can continue to retire under current conditions.
The amendment adopted in the commissions provides that their retirement age should be reduced by 20 years for those who worked underground and by 15 years for those who worked on the surface.
The project on the new pension law was adopted by the Senate last week, following a session with scandal.
The plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies will take place starting at 4:00 p.m.
The Senate adopted, in the plenary on Tuesday, the draft law on the public pension system, after the specialized commissions issued a favorable report with accepted amendments.
The leaders of USR and AUR senators, Radu Mihail and Claudiu Târziu, requested the resending of the legislative initiative to the committees, USR asked for three weeks, and AUR for at least two weeks, but both requests were rejected by the senators.
After the vote on the project, USR representatives said that the party’s senators voted against the proposed law. At the same time, the leader of the AUR senators Cladiu Târziu announced that the senators of the formation abstained from the vote, because “a slight increase is better than nothing”.
The draft law on the public pension system was adopted with 85 votes “for”, six “against” and 19 abstentions.
Publisher : BP
