UPDATE Chamber passes bill repealing special state pensions

On Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies passed a bill repealing special state pensions, 247 to nil and 21 abstentions. The bill provides for the repeal of special state pensions, with the exception of the pensions for the military and police. The MPs rejected amendments tabled in the Committee on Labor, at the proposal of Social Democratic Party (PSD) lawmaker Adrian Solomon, those meant to repeal public annuities for artists and athletes. Other rejected amendments would have abolished pension supplements for self-employed Romanian performing artists, as well as supplements for state pensioners who are members of creators' associations legally established and recognised as legal persons of public utility, and merit allowance. The Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making chamber in this case. AGERPRES (RO - author: Alina Novaceanu, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)