Nicușor Dan is talking to the coalition leaders today about magistrates' pensions. Romania risks losing 231 million euros at the end of the month
President Nicușor Dan summoned the leaders of the governing parties to the Cotroceni Palace on Tuesday, starting at 10:00 a.m., to discuss magistrates' pensions, one of the topics that grinds the coalition. If the reform of special pensions is not adopted by the end of November, then Romania will lose 231 million euros from the European Commission.
The discussion convened by President Nicușor Dan with Sorin Grindeanu, Ilie Bolojan, Dominic Fritz, Kelemen Hunor and Varujan Pambuccian comes in the context in which the Constitutional Court (CCR) published on Friday the reasons for the decision by which it rejected the draft law assumed by the Bolojan Government to modify the magistrates' pensions.
According to the CCR judges, the law was declared unconstitutional due to the fact that the Executive did not wait long enough for the opinion of the Supreme Council of Magistracy.
The judges did not discuss what the magistrates' pension law actually provides, but only about how it was adopted.
Now, the coalition and the Government must find a way to pass the law increasing the retirement age of magistrates by November 28.
The deadline
November 28 is the deadline imposed by the European Commission by which the reform of magistrates' pensions must be adopted. Government officials tried to extend the deadline, but failed. If the reform is not adopted by then, Romania will lose 231 million euros from the National Recovery and Resilience Program (PNRR).
While the PSD wants a working group to be formed that includes magistrates so that there are no more reasons for judges and prosecutors to be dissatisfied, Prime Minister Bolojan is now willing to negotiate the transition period and the amount of the pension.
In August, when the coalition was still preparing the reform of magistrates' pensions, the president and the prime minister talked for about 3 hours with representatives of prosecutors and judges.
At the end of the discussions since then, the Minister of Justice, Radu Marinescu, told HotNews: “A useful dialogue, in which the divergent aspects regarding the reform of the service pensions of the magistrates were analyzed.”
On the other hand, a representative of the magistrates present in Cotroceni said that, although the discussions were useful, no consensus was reached.
The president of the Senate, Mircea Abrudean (PNL), close to Ilie Bolojan, declared at the beginning of the month that from a discussion he had a few days ago with the prime minister, it emerged that the head of the government is willing to negotiate the transition period, but not the amount of the pension.
“From the discussions I had with the prime minister, I understood that there is flexibility during the transition period, to exceed the 10 years. Regarding the amount, I understood that there is no,” said Abrudean.
According to HotNews information, the prime minister is also considering increasing the transition period from 10 years, as stipulated by the law rejected by the CCR, to 14 or 15 years. However, Bolojan would not like to increase the pension to more than 70% of the last net salary.
In the summer, Nicușor Dan went to the Government to talk with the coalition leaders. The subject was also the reform of magistrates' pensions. Then, the president proposed to them the option of 15 years for the transition period and a pension equal to 75% of the last net salary.
What options does the Government have?
On the one hand, Ilie Bolojan wants to resume the whole process in order to re-engage his responsibility for the reform in the Parliament. This time, however, he should wait for the opinion from the CSM, that is, at most 30 days.
The second option is the adoption of the reform through the engagement of liability, whereby the project proposed by the Government cannot be modified. If it is submitted to the Parliament, it must go through the specialized committees until it reaches the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate. Which means that the bill can be changed if the MPs' amendments are accepted in the committees.
Nicusor Dan and the meetings with the leaders
It is not the first time that the president calls the leaders of the coalition to Cotroceni for discussions. In September, the head of state requested a meeting with Bolojan, Grindeanu, Fritz and Hunor in the context of the tensions in the coalition that started from the dismissals from the administration desired by the prime minister. Then, Bolojan even threatened to resign.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and President Nicușor Dan discussed on November 29 for about two hours at the Cotroceni Palace on topics related to the coalition, such as magistrates' pensions, the package of measures aimed at bringing more money to the budget, but also the misunderstandings in the coalition, according to HotNews sources.
