The leader of the PNL senators, after the CCR decision on the private pensions law: “It will be a priority, we will adapt the text”
Daniel Fenechiu, Photo: Inquam Photos / George Călin
The liberal Daniel Fenechiu declared on Tuesday that the law on the payment of private pensions, declared unconstitutional by the CCR, still has a chance to enter into force this year only “on the condition that the Court's reasoning appears quickly”, reports Agerpres.
The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) announced on Tuesday that it admitted the referrals submitted by the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the AUR on the law regarding the payment of private pensions. The forum decided that only one article is unconstitutional, the one that exempts cancer patients from the prohibition to withdraw more than 30% of the money from private pensions, after the retirement decision.
The leader of the PNL senators said that “the provision declared unconstitutional will be amended.”
“The law on private pensions must be adopted due to the fact that, when it was initially adopted, it was not foreseen what happens when the first beneficiaries retire. It will be a priority, it will go back to Parliament and we will adapt the text to the Court's decision. Private pensions must ensure income for all those who have contributed. The moment you allow those who have contributed to withdraw, at the time of retirement, the sums of money from there, you generate a problem for the entire system. And then the option went that oncological patients, who really, in general, have a lower life expectancy and have a very serious problem, benefit from this facility”, explained Daniel Fenechiu, in the Senate.
“The coalition makes some pleasant or less pleasant political decisions”
The liberal said that he “went on this option” because “it was not possible to identify a solution that would limit full withdrawals at the time of retirement.”
“The coalition is not wrong, the coalition makes some political decisions that can be pleasant or less pleasant. From the coalition's point of view, this was the right decision. Yes, it can also fall in the Constitutional Court. The Court taught us that, at the moment it wants to, any law can fall. This is a reality. No, I don't think that the chronically ill should have been included in the amendment that was formulated. I repeat, 90% of the people who retired could benefit of this provision”, Fenechiu added.
What are the chances of the law coming into effect in 2025
Daniel Fenechiu said that he believes that the law can enter into force at the end of this year, “provided that the Court's reasoning appears quickly”.
“If the Court gives reasons in January, I find it hard to believe that we will be able to modify it. (…) In Romania, the Constitutional Court is not strictly an institution of parliamentary control, it is also a legislative institution. (…) The Court, sometimes, also gives us lessons on what we should do, and therefore I am also waiting with interest to see what it will tell us”, concluded Daniel Fenechiu.
