Constitutional Court: Law whereby pension point increased by 40 pct - constitutional (sources)

The Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR) rejected, on Wednesday, the Government's notification regarding the law that provides for a 40 pct increase of the pension point, establishing that the normative act is constitutional, CCR sources specified for AGERPRES.

In mid-October last year, the Executive notified the Constitutional Court with a view to exercising the preliminary control of constitutionality on the Law for the approval of OUG 135/2020 - 2020 budget revision.

In essence, the Government reiterated in its notification to the CCR the arguments according to which Parliament ignored the law's predictability requirements and the outlook of the evolution of the consolidated budget situation and of the general economy, resulting in the principle of legal certainty being vitiated.

"Moreover, the repeal of some articles of the revision ordinance by which the Government increased the pension point as of September 1 does not automatically lead to the application of the initial law as long as no transitional provisions have been issued," the Executive said.

According to the notification, the parliamentarians "did not identify the clear sources of financing" for the proposed increases, necessary to cover the pursued expenses and to reflect the principle of budgetary balance, according to the constitutional provisions.

The Executive was maintaining that the state budget revision for 2020 was built on the basis of "impact analyses and studies", representing a balance between all areas that needed funding so that the economic impact of the health crisis is reduced to the lowest possible level."

"The distortion of the budget construction, by introducing expenditures without real basis in revenues, results in economic degradation, with a negative impact on the living standards of all citizens, including the alleged beneficiaries of these expenditures. At the same time, managing the current economic context requires a realistic relation to the international economic situation caused by the pandemic and maximum caution in maintaining budgetary balances for the benefit of all citizens," the Government was saying.