Romanian deputy-PM confirms new, “sustainable” pension law

Romania’s deputy prime minister Dan Barna confirmed that a new pension law would be drafted. He admitted that it is “a firm commitment of the whole coalition” but failed to provide many details about how the new bill will look like, apart from being “ sustainable”.

There is no commitment the Government has [towards the European Commisison] to increase the retirement age, he said, Agerpresreported. It’s only a commitment for a new pension law, he stressed.

As with other commitments included in the list of policies agreed with the European Commisison, such a new pension law is visibly needed, but it bears a political cost that nobody looks at this moment ready to pay. Delays, avoidance and failures will have significant costs in terms of credibility and fund absorption.

The speech given by Barna on the new pension law is a perfect illustration of such ambiguous stances. While pointing to the demographics and rising life expectancy, besides the global trend toward higher retirement ages, Barna avoided speaking of concrete steps toward the “sustainable” system.

On the contrary, he stressed that neither hiking the retirement age nor increasing the social security contributions are among the policies envisaged under the ruling strategy or the Relaunch and Resilience Plan.

The retirement age, which must be “calibrated” with the new life expectancy, “is a reality that we take into consideration,” vice-PM Barna stated. “I am sure everybody understands,” he concluded.

(Photo: George Calin/ Inquam Photos)