Minister Jambon: « Reasonableness and correctness are sometimes far searched in pension debate »
© Belga
« I understand concern, but the reasonableness and correctness in the pension debate are sometimes hard to find. » Federal Minister for Pensions Jan Jambon said on Monday evening during a college at KU Leuven.
The N-VA minister was invited on Monday evening to give the current affairs of the Pension Law course at Leuven University. He defended all pension measures that have been proposed for about an hour and a half.
« We are still writing the laws, » said the minister. « At the moment we have only written down the coalition agreement, the policy statement and the Easter agreement. And yet, without the law being known, those documents have already caused a lot of response. I understand concern, but the reasonableness and correctness are sometimes far lost. »
Jambon also stated that he finds the reactions of « certain groups » disproportionate « in this phase ». « The consultation is still in full, it is not over yet, » he said. « We take our time to speak with all groups. »
In the event of unchanged policy, the budget deficit would rise to 6.5 percent or 46 billion euros by 2029, the minister argued. With pensions, Jambon wants to save 2.3 billion euros by 2029. « And the next legislature will also have to be attracted to the belt, » Jambon predicted on Monday evening.
© Belga
The philosophy behind the reform is to make the relationship between effective work and the pension amount closer and to harmonize the differences in the systems of civil servants, ordinary employees and self -employed people, Jambon explained. This resulted, among other things, in a number of adjustments to the bonus-malus system, the definition of a career year and the share of equal periods.
The minister wants all texts to vote this year by the Federal Parliament, so that the first measures can take effect from 1 January 2026. Certain things would have a later effective date.
