The Minister for Pensions has received the three Education Ministers

This Monday, the Minister for Pensions, Daniel BACQUELAINE, has received the three Education Ministers from our country’s three Communities, being Hilde CREVITS, Marie-Martine SCHYNS and Harald MOLLERS. This meeting constituted the opportunity to discuss the reforms that were decided during the last budgetary control in April.  

I              Harmonization of the diploma gratification for the calculation of one’s pension

In essence, Minister BACQUELAINE elaborated on the harmonization between the pension schemes insofar as the diploma gratification for the purpose of calculating pensions is concerned. Henceforth a regularization fee, the modalities of which will be examined within the framework of social consultation, will have to be paid by civil servants wishing that their years of study are taken into account for the purpose of calculating their pensions, as is the case for employees and self-employed persons. The Minister for Pensions has reaffirmed that this did not concern an abolition of the diploma gratification whatsoever.

Daniel BACQUELAINE once again highlighted the preservation of acquired rights. In this way, civil servants who for the purpose of calculating their pensions can present a diploma granted after four years of study and can provide proof that they have already completed three quarters of an entire career will still be able to benefit from three years of study without having to pay any additional costs.

In accordance with the coalition agreement the Minister for Pensions will ask the National Pension Committee to give its opinion on the modalities of this measure. In addition to the social partners, the Communities will be represented in the  ʺSpecial Public Sector Committeeʺ. They will cooperate with the other committee members on the practical implementation of the harmonization of the diploma gratification.

II             Alteration of preferential bonuses

As stipulated in the coalition agreement, the preferential bonuses will only be abolished following the end of the talks within the National Pension Committee on the recognition of the strenuousness of work with regard to pension rights. It is our aim to help evolve an obsolete system from the 19th century towards a system integrating the changed realities of the labour market. The implementation of this reform will be assigned to the National Pension Committee in which the Communities are represented.