Seven former senators go to court against pension ceiling: “What’s wrong with a pension you paid for?”

Seven former senators are going to the French-speaking corporate court in Brussels against the Senate’s pension fund. They want to challenge the capping of their pensions, L’Echo wrote on Tuesday. Among the seven are five French-speaking politicians, but also CD&V members Erik Matthijs and Hugo Vandenberghe.

Source: BELGA

Today at 07:45

After the fuss about pensions for parliamentarians, the Senate put an end to the cumulation of pensions. This allowed them to exceed the ceiling set at 7,813 euros gross per month by 20 percent.

In addition to CD&V members Matthijs and Vandenberghe, MR politicians François-Xavier de Donnea, Jacques Brotchi, Guy Saulmont and Pierre Hazette, and PS member Elie De Worme are also going to court.

“My clients believe that they have been deprived of social rights for which they have paid premiums,” says their lawyer Geoffroy Generet. He says it amounts to several hundred euros per month. “These rights have been withdrawn for reasons related to the spirit of the times, and morality is often cited. But what’s wrong with a pension you paid for?”

(Read more under the positions)

PVDA

• We are reducing the statutory retirement age to 65. Working until 67 is unjust and unfeasible
• We are putting an end to the pension privileges of ministers and parliamentarians. We limit the statutory maximum pension for everyone to twice the minimum pension that we want to introduce, i.e. to 3,700 euros net per month
• We are raising the minimum pension to 1,850 euros net per person. Anyone who has worked all their life has the right to a decent income
• We strengthen women’s pension rights and eliminate inequality
• We are making early retirement possible again from the age of 60 after 40 years of work

GREEN

• Defend and strengthen increases in the minimum pension and the income guarantee for the elderly
• The option to retire from 42 career years, or otherwise at the statutory retirement age
• Give more weight to difficult career years when calculating the 42 career years required for a pension
• Social security resources are distributed in a less unequal manner. In this way we cap the 1 percent highest pensions
• Fair pensions for people who have not worked or worked part-time for a number of years in their career because they took on caring responsibilities for their family

VLAAMS BELANG

• A unified pension system for employees, self-employed persons and civil servants
• A full pension either after 66,000 hours of work before the age of 65, or a pension proportional to the number of hours worked from the age of 65
• A guaranteed indexable minimum pension of 1,799 euros (instead of 1,637) gross per month.
• A reasonable maximum pension of 4,750 (instead of 7,813) euros gross per month

OPEN VLD

• Equivalent periods (parental leave and similar) weigh less heavily in pension calculations (50-55% instead of 60% of current wages). Periods worked count for 65 to 70% of wages
• Retain pension bonus
• One pension system: civil servants’ pensions are calculated in the same way as pensions for self-employed persons and employees
• Strengthen the second pension pillar (group insurance): part of indexation will be converted into a supplementary pension, unless one chooses to opt-out
• Tightening the employment conditions for access to the minimum pension. More years of effective work before you can receive the minimum pension

CD&V

• Every day worked counts towards building up a minimum pension (currently you must have a career of 30 years to be entitled to a minimum pension)
• A pension reform that rewards working longer: the link between wages and the number of days worked is strengthened in pension calculations
• A second pension pillar for everyone, including low wages. The employer’s contribution must be increased from 2 percent of the gross salary to 3 percent
• Everyone has the choice for a statutory pension between the ages of 62 and 67 (continuing to work afterwards remains possible): this gives people more control over their own career and the effects on their pension rights
• Taking care counts towards the accrual of pension rights

FORWARD

• A new pension reform is needed that strengthens the link between years actually worked and the pension, that requires a fair contribution from the highest pensions and that eliminates the special pension regime
• After 42 years you should be able to retire if you have worked enough years
• Civil servants who want to work longer are no longer required to retire
• The income guarantee for the elderly must be raised to the poverty risk threshold
• A supplementary pension should be mandatory in all sectors, and the contribution should fall outside the wage standard

N-VA

• In addition to a strong first pillar, we generalize the supplementary pension for everyone. This will evolve from three to five percent of the gross annual salary. Any employee can choose to leave the system. We reduce tax and social security contributions on pension contributions for employer and employee
• We are introducing a system of pension points, which determine the amount of the pension. As a basic rule, we award one pension point to someone who has earned the average gross income for one year
• To determine when someone is entitled to retire, we propose to look at career rather than age from now on. In other words: based on the kilometers on the odometer rather than the age of the car
• 45 years remains the reference career. Those who want to work for less time will be given that option. Those who want to work longer also. In both cases, a solidarity factor adjusts the pension amount downwards or upwards
• Through the reform we are putting an end to the endless exceptions such as early retirement (SWT), end-of-career careers and other favorable regimes that still exist today. The reform also ensures harmonization between all the different systems that we know

The case will go to trial in September. The former senators will, as a precautionary measure, ask for the restoration of their social rights before the court later decides on the merits of the case, the lawyer said.

READ ALSO. How Siegfried Bracke (N-VA) pulls out all the legal stops in the case surrounding pension extras