The World Bank, as a consultant for the Romanian Government on the reform of the pension system, recommended steps that would bring the so-called "special pensions" (except for the "military pensions") gradually in line with the principles of contribution-based rights shared by the general public pension system.

The WB argues that applying the same measures for military pensions would have a negative impact on the older cohorts of Army staff that may retire faster than planned and on the attractiveness of a military career - particularly at a time of the war in Ukraine, Economedia.ro reported.

WB thus does not question the "special" nature of the military pensions (invoked by the European Commission in its recommendations to Romania) but the opportunity to terminate it now.

Romania's authorities, in contrast, question the very "special" nature of the military pensions - which cover not only the Army staff but the police, intelligence services and other state institutions.

"We believe that military pensions already meet the requirements of Milestone 215, and we propose not to consider a new reform of military pensions now. The external environment is very different now compared to when the PNRR [National Relaunch and Resilience program] was negotiated. The world changed on February 24, 2022, when Russia attacked Ukraine. Today there is a war zone not far from Romania's border with Ukraine, and all countries bordering Ukraine must maintain a high level of military preparedness. Nothing should be done now to jeopardize military strength and training," the World Bank said in its proposal.

For all other "special" pensions, however, the retirement age and minimum contribution period should be increased in line with the terms of the public pension system and the calculation should be revised such as to cover a longer contributions history and to avoid pensions higher than the wage income.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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