Less than a minute ago, the five Arizona parties (N-VA, Vooruit, CD&V, MR and Les Engagés) have negotiated the reform of pensions and the labor market. However, these two must bring in billions of euros and thus become the budgetary lifebuoy for the future federal government. In order not to derail the costs of aging, pensions had to provide savings of 3 billion euros, according to De Wever’s super notes in recent weeks. Those texts have now been off the table, but the formateur’s latest plan – a note dated November 19 that the editors were able to get their hands on – is largely based on those earlier proposals.
There has been great concern about the plans in recent days and weeks. In the police, who feared that many top people would quit earlier than expected for fear of a lower pension. And last weekend at the government unions, who put the pension plans through a calculator and came to the conclusion that civil servants will lose tens of thousands of euros due to De Wever’s plans. (Read more below the photo)
Koen Van Kerkhoven, CEO of the Christian education union, warned last weekend that teachers risk losing tens of thousands of euros due to Bart De Wevers’ pension reform. — © Frank Bahnmuller
The interventions from the super notes also largely remain intact in the latest version of the pension plans. Just think of scrapping the so-called equalization of civil servants’ pensions, a system whereby they increase independently of indexation when civil servants’ wages also rise. De Wever also wants to put an end to the advantageous pension calculation of civil servants. This is now based on the salary of the last ten years, while for employees it is an average of their entire career. Step by step and by 2050, the two systems will now be equalized. The calculation itself – according to the so-called bonuses – also becomes less advantageous for civil servants. The favorable pension systems for NMBS employees and military personnel, who can retire at the age of 55 and 56 respectively, will also be abolished.
However, it is not only civil servants who have to accept changes. To receive a minimum pension, you will soon have to have worked for 35 years. Periods in which you have not worked – such as early retirement or long-term unemployment – no longer count. And there will also be a pension penalty: for each year that you stop working early, the pension will decrease by an amount yet to be determined. (Read more below the photo)
The pension plans of formateur Bart De Wever have not yet been negotiated in Arizona. But the reform must generate billions for the budget. — © Maarten De Bouw
But the new proposals also contain a series of provisions that make it somewhat more palatable for some groups, provisions that were not included in the super notes. Such as for the so-called “active services”. This concerns soldiers, air traffic controllers and the operational framework of the fire brigade and police. They are now also allowed to retire earlier, but unlike other systems, this is not affected. Their advantageous calculation of the retirement age – each year worked counts for 1.05 instead of 1 – ensures that they can stop working more than two years earlier. It must then concern “services actually performed”.
It is somewhat reminiscent of the discussion surrounding the heavy professions that previous governments fought hard to tackle and which had to provide a more favorable pension scheme for people with a heavy profession. However, the question of who does or does not have a difficult profession caused insoluble headaches. The arrangement now before us should avoid such a discussion, according to the Arizona parties. (Read more below the photo)
Firefighters, among others, are allowed to stop working earlier. Formateur De Wever wants to keep it that way. — © rr
A system that De Wever also leaves in place – for the time being – is the Navap scheme, which allows police officers to retire early at the age of 59. Vivaldi, and especially Open VLD, wanted to scrap that system, but encountered strong protests from the police unions. They were also right by the Council of State. The De Wever memorandum states that the system will eventually disappear, but it will continue to exist for the time being. The period of inactivity may only last a maximum of two years and must follow an early retirement. Within Arizona it is also said that it is not impossible that the scheme will not be overhauled in the end.
De Wever therefore filed a few sharp edges of his pension proposals. “You can see in the various memoranda and in the budget table that were on the table this weekend that the formateur’s team is not insensitive to dissatisfied reactions to leaked memoranda,” says an insider.
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In his note, De Wever also takes into account that the reform will come into effect on January 1, 2025. Anyone who is a few years away from retirement will retain all acquired rights at least until that time. Only the subsequent years will result in a less advantageous calculation for some.
