It's official: the retirement age for police and military is increasing. What special pensions could still be reformed

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced on Tuesday evening, after the extraordinary meeting of the Government in which the administrative reform and economic recovery ordinances were approved, that the retirement age for policemen and soldiers will be increased.

In Romania there are several categories of special pensions. Photo by Shutterstock

“Through the measures proposed for the central administration, measures will be applied to audit personnel expenses, increasing the retirement age in sectors related to public order and national security”, said the Prime Minister after the Government meeting.

Recently, the Police and Army unions have warned that the new pension law 282/2023 already regulates the phased increase in the retirement age for MApN and MAI employees as well.

Thus, the standard retirement age for military/policemen increases gradually, from 60 to 65 years, in staggered fashion, until the year 2035, starting from the year 2031, by one year at a time, as follows: 2031 – 61 years; 2032 – 62 years; 2033 – 63 years; 2034 – 64 years; 2035 – 65 years.

However, in the draft ordinance on administrative reform put up for debate on Wednesday, February 18, it is mentioned that, within 30 days of its publication in the Official Gazette, the Government will approve the proposal of MapN and MAI regarding the reform of military pensions.

“Art. LVI. (1) Considering the exception provided for in art. XLIX paragraph (1), for public institutions from the occupational family “Defence, public order and national security”, the 10% reduction in personnel expenses is compensated by the effects generated by the implementation of the reform of the state military pension system.

(2) In order to apply the provisions of para. (1), within a maximum of 30 days from the entry into force of this emergency ordinance, the Government will approve, upon the proposal of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the amendment and completion of Law no. 223/2015 on state military pensions, with subsequent amendments and additions, in order to gradually and progressively increase the standard retirement age, with the application of transitional measures and without affecting the persons who meet the conditions legal for obtaining a service pension on the date of adoption of the normative act.”

Bolojan: Paratroopers, first-line gendarmes are an exception

Also on February 18, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan came up with a series of explanations regarding the intention to reform military pensions, including the exceptions that will be made.

“Nand we propose that in March we come up with draft laws that will put into practice this principle regarding the retirement age and the level of the pension. We are talking about the employees belonging to the Ministry of the Interior, the Defense area, the area of ​​public order and national security, but here too some clarifications must be made. There are situations in these areas where physical demands and effort are related to difficult working conditions. For example, paratroopers, gendarmes who are in line 1, who still have to benefit from rights that mean equivalent years of work more than normal years, so a faster retirement“, said Bolojan.

What special pensions could be reformed

In Romania there are several categories of service pensions, generically called special pensions because they are based on special laws that regulate the amount of income and the retirement age differently from the public pension system.

Beneficiaries of these special laws collect their pensions on the one hand from the National Public Pension House (CNPP), and on the other from the sectoral pension houses of the Ministry of Defense (MApN) and the Ministry of the Interior (MAI), but also from the sectoral pension house of the SRI.

The categories of special pensions paid by the CNPP are those paid under the following laws:
– Law no. 216/2015 regarding the granting of the service pension to the members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps of Romania

– LAW 215 /2015 for the amendment and completion of Law no. 7/2006 regarding the status of the parliamentary civil servant

– Law no. 83/2015 to supplement Law no. 223/2007 regarding the Statute of professional civil aviation aeronautical personnel in civil aviation in Romania

– Law 303/2022 – regarding the status of prosecutors and judges

– Law no. 130/2015 to supplement Law no. 567/2004 regarding the status of specialized auxiliary staff of courts and prosecutor's offices

– Service pensions for beneficiaries of the Court of Accounts: Law 7/2016 and Decision CCR 297/2012

Magistrates will retire at 65 in 2042

In the case of magistrates' pensions, the CCR admitted that the changes regarding the increase of the retirement age and the decrease of the amount of the pension in relation to the salary in payment are Constitutional.

The reform project aims to change the formula for calculating the pension, which would be set at 55% of the average gross allowances made in the last five years of activity (compared to 80% of the calculation base represented by the monthly gross employment allowance and the increments in the last month of activity before the date of retirement as it currently is), with a ceiling of no more than 70% of the last net allowance. At the same time, the document proposes increasing the minimum retirement age from 25 to 35 years, as well as raising the retirement age to 65.

The new rules would be introduced gradually. The project provides for a transition period of 15 years, which would start on January 1, 2026, during which the retirement age would gradually increase by one year. According to this proposal, in 2042 magistrates would be able to retire at the age of 65.

The categories that retire at 60 years

With the exception of service pensions granted to former employees of the Civil Aviation, all other categories – former diplomats or consuls, former parliamentary officials, former clerks or auxiliary staff from the prosecutor's office, former employees of the Court of Accounts – have a regulated retirement age of 60 years.

For all the categories above, the amount of the pension is set at 80% of the calculation base represented by the average gross income achieved in the last 12 months before the date of retirement.