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PM Ciuca: Amending special state pension bill needed for Romania to get resilience, recovery funds.
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca has unveiled amendments undertaken by the ruling coalition to the bill on special state pensions, currently with Parliament, showing that its amendment is needed for Romania to continue getting funds under the National Resilience and Recovery Plan (PNRR), told Agerpres.
"Each citizen's pension must reflect the importance of their lifetime's work and contribution to the state system. The amendment of the bill on special state pensions, currently being debated by the lawmakers, is needed so that Romania can continue getting nearly 30 billion euros under PNRR. Through a series of amendments that the governing coalition is taking up, we right the wrongs and introduce the reforms we have pledged so that Romania can get the European funds under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan," Ciuca wrote on Monday in a social media post.
He says that the standard retirement age will be the same for the entire state pension system with no exceptions.
"The standard retirement age for diplomats and court auxiliary personnel will increase to 65 years. The same principle will be applied to the military, in stages, throughout 2035. Also, the minimum seniority requirement will increase in stages. By January 2034, the minimum specialty seniority requirement will be set at 25 years for several categories of employees - diplomats, parliamentary officials, employees of the Court of Accounts."
Ciuca also says that the number of people drawing special of state pensions is reduced by excluding legal specialist staff remunerated as judges and prosecutors, and non-managerial employees of diplomatic missions.
He says that pension income has to be proportional to the contribution to the public system and no special pension will exceed the salaried income before retirement.
"For the pensions being paid, levying a 30% tax on the part of the pension income that exceeds the gross average salary used as a base for the state social insurance budget and exceeding the application of the contribution principle is being considered. Some other correlations are also being considered in order to observe the principle of contribution, essential in the law of state pensions."
Ciuca adds that adjusting the state pensions of magistrates for the increase in gross monthly allowances of active judges and prosecutors is also being proposed. In addition, a bill will be initiated by the government capping pension income for magistrates, given that the other special pension income have been capped since September 2017. Recalculating the magistrates' pensions currently being paid is also in the cards in order to eliminate inequities generated by income differences.
