Labour Minister Mirando Mrsic on Wednesday presented government-sponsored draft amendments to the law on entitlements and responsibilities of members of parliament which stipulate the reduction of their privileged pensions and said that, although that had marginal effects on the pension system, those changes were of political importance.
"It is completely justified to pass this law. Its effect on the pension system is financially negligible, but it is politically important," Mrsic told MPs.
The enaction of the changes will annul higher pensions under privileged conditions for MPs, Constitutional Court judges and the Chief State Auditor, who will instead qualify for pensions under the same conditions applicable to other citizens, in accordance with the pension scheme legislation.
This means that the upper limit for their pensions will be HRK 8,872 for 40 years in service, instead of HRK 17,000.
According to Mrsic, the new law would not have retroactive effects, which means that those who qualified for privileged pensions before the passage of this law would be entitled to privileged pensions.
The draft amendments were sent to parliament for fast-track procedure.
The minister said that there was no country in the European Union with such discrepancies between pensions of MPs and ordinary citizens. In addition, 16 EU member-countries offer no pension privileges for parliamentary deputies.
