Government’s pension reform goes into third and final reading

The parties of the ruling coalition on Friday used their majority in the lower house to send the bill on pension reform into its third and final reading, forcibly cutting short the debate after 26 hours of obstruction tactics by the opposition parties. The  proposal envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age linked to a higher life expectancy with a ceiling at age 67, a different basis for calculating old-age pensions, a lower indexation of pensions and a minimum pension amounting to 20 percent of the average wage. The present retirement age is 65 for both men and women.

According to Labour Minister Marian Jurečka the reform is necessary for the sustainability of the pension system. The opposition ANO party is highly critical of the planned changes and has said that it will consider filing a complaint against it to the Constitutional Court.