Tanczos Barna: “The deadline of November 28 imposed by the EU for the modification of magistrates' pensions is real. We are in danger of losing the money / I do not expect a positive opinion from the SCM”

Deputy Prime Minister Tanczos Barna said Monday evening, on Digi24, that he expects the opinion of the Superior Council of Magistracy on the magistrates' pension reform project to be negative and that there is a risk of losing approximately 230 million euros from the PNRR.

Tanczos Barna stated that he expects the opinion of the Superior Council of Magistracy on the service pension reform project to be negative.

“I think that the opinion of the CSM will come quickly. They will not wait for 30 days. I do not expect a positive opinion. There were discussions both at the level of the government and in the direct discussions between the president of the Chamber, Mr. Grindeanu and the representatives of the magistrates. There were also discussions at the level of Cotroceni, discussions coordinated and moderated by Mr. President Nicușor Dan. Things have not been clarified there. I at least expect a negative opinion. We will continue the procedure to see what will be the finality”, this person explained.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the November 28 deadline imposed on Romania by the European Commission for amending the legislation on magistrates' pensions is real.

“The 28th day, or more precisely the money, the 230 million euros, is at risk. We are very close to that deadline and we have no chance that the law will appear in the Official Gazette until then, which means that it will be an interpretation of the rule and the sanction from the European Commission. If they will see the firm commitment and later such a legal provision appears in the Gazette, we still have a chance, theoretically, but practically we have this real risk of losing the 230 of millions of euros, European money that comes for free. And behind this amount there are dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of small projects for hospitals, schools, universities, ministries. The money that should have entered the national economy and that should have financed such projects”, he continued.

He stated that the Ministry of Finance was informed “both last week and two weeks ago” that the rule is strictly applied.

“The European Commission aims to achieve this milestone. The deadline exists, it is real, the risk of losing the money exists,” Barna also commented.

The vice-president of the CSM, Claudiu Sandu, previously stated, also on Digi24, that “the loss of money is a matter that is not true” and that the milestone reopened by the European Commission exclusively targets pensions in payment, especially those that exceed salaries. “They want the overtaxation of very high pensions and their return below the salary,” Sandu had declared.

The first consulted courts reject the new project of the Bolojan Government regarding magistrates' pensions

Meanwhile, the Bucharest and Alba Iulia Courts of Appeal announced that they reject the special pension reform project.

All the courts and prosecutor's offices in the country convened general meetings on Monday and Tuesday to formulate the views of the magistrates. The CSM announced that the plenary will meet after the centralization of the situation.

The draft law on magistrates' pensions was sent to the CSM on November 20, by the Ministry of Labor.

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said that the Government will request the CSM to issue the opinion “within a reasonable period”, even if the law allows a period of 30 days.

According to the draft law, the amount of the service pension will be 55% of the calculation base, represented by the average of the gross allowances of the last 60 months, but not more than 70% of the last net allowance received in the activity.

Currently, the service pension of magistrates is 80% of the last gross salary, but not more than the last net salary received.

The transition to the standard retirement age of 65 will take place in 15 years, instead of 10 years as provided for in the previous project.

Magistrates will still be able to retire early, provided they have 35 years of service, but if they have not reached the age of 65, an annual penalty of “2% until they reach the standard retirement age in the public system” will be applied.