Elimination of double pensions

With the aim of finding 11.7 billion euros over the next 2 years, the government is considering inviting 150,000-200,000 retirees to choose until the end of this year which of their 2 main pensions will be cut.

Today, double pensions are given mainly to doctors of the NHS (involved in second insurer), engineers (TSMEDE and State), lawyers (Lawyers' Fund and various other funds in which they are employed as legal advisors), academics and the politicians who usually have deductions from two pension providers. Even widows receive double pensions if they were working (their own and part of their husband's). The injustice of course is that in order to receive a double pension today the retirees had been paying their insurance contributions for both funds in the past 35 years, and part of that money will now be lost.

Two are the possibilities proposed for cases of double pensions: either to put a cap on the amount of both pensions or to ask beneficiaries to choose which pension they wish to receive, which is the possibility most likely to be followed. The government report also mentions that the same model should be used to review the status of two or three supplementary pensions received by retirees. Besides double pensions, the government has proposals to review welfare benefits, salaries of teachers and the tenure of public employees. The scientific associates of the government suggest a series of measures to decrease the size of the public sector.

The remaining 10 proposals include:

-    2,400-euro cap on pensions. Thus, the State will save 1 million, while a similar amount could be saved by operating and other expenses in the public sector and 1.2 billion from the central government
-    elimination of advisor posts for elected representatives, saving 130 million euros
-    50% reduction in office and residence benefits for MPs and elimination of compensation for participation in committees, saving 6.5 million

-    suspension of operation of the parliament TV channel, which will save 6 million

There are also measures the benefit of which is not yet calculated. For example, the report says that:

-    public bodies must close, dozens of developmental businesses for Local Authorities must suspend their operation and their staff should be laid off
-    hospital units in the regions should be rented to private owners
-    income criteria in providing medical and hospital care (40,000 euros per year)
-    cut all tax exemptions
-    reduce Defense spending
-    reduce or eliminate about 90 social allowances, which are currently received by about 240,000 beneficiaries. This will be done by imposing strict criteria regarding the establishment of family income (not more than 6,000 per year) and the recording of personal and real estate property (that there are no deposits and real estate owned by the beneficiary).