Labour Minister, European officials discuss public pension system and public sector pay reform

Labour Minister, European officials discuss public pension system and public sector pay reform

Labour Minister Simona Bucura-Oprescu on Thursday had a first working meeting in videocall format with Celine Gauer, Director General of the European Commission's SG Recover, and with the technical team of Directorate-General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) and Secretariat-General Recovery & Resilience Task Force (SG RECOVER), the discussions focusing on the continuation of the reforms of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and those targeting the public pension system and the salary system in the public sector, told Agerpres.

"During the meeting, the commitment to continue the reforms in line with the provisions of the PNRR was made and the current state of play of the two most important reforms currently under the portfolio of the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity [MMSS] was presented, namely the reform of the public pension system and the reform of the public sector salary system. As regards the reform of the public pension system, the short and medium-term work trajectory was agreed, namely the planning of the next bilateral technical meetings between the MMSS and the European Commission to agree on the best variant of the reform, so that we can focus on the small pensions in Romania, increasing their adequacy, but without losing sight of the need to ensure financial sustainability," the Labour Minister wrote on Facebook.

Regarding the reform of the public sector salary system, Bucura-Oprescu said that a commitment has been made to complete consultations with all occupational families in a tripartite manner (MMSS, trade unions, relevant ministries) so that we can then work together with the World Bank on various reform scenarios, so that we can find the best option to reduce inequalities in the system and ensure the sustainability of expenditure.

"The European Commission has appreciated the efforts the MMSS is making to ensure a genuine social dialogue, fully recognising the need to conduct this process with maximum responsibility. The conclusion of the meeting expressed by both parties was related to the need to ensure a constant dialogue with the European Commission services, so as to ensure that the milestones be met on time, in line with the commitments made to European partners, and that the reforms made contribute genuinely to increasing the quality of life of Romanian citizens," the Labour Minister wrote on the social media page.