Vetëvendosje (VV) promised significant reforms to pension and social schemes in their governing program. In the 2019 and 2021 general elections they presented a program aimed to establish a stable, inclusive and equal pension system. This program would guarantee consistent and sufficient pensions for future generations, while also looking after existing pensioners.
A detailed proposal of these reforms was given in VV’s 2013 Governing Alternative, when they had less than 15% of votes. However, when VV won the 2021 general election with 51% of the votes, they only included one page dedicated to pension and social reform in their Government Program for 2021-2025.
A draft law on pension schemes planned for 2021 was meant to implement the reform, but was not put forth for government approval. The same draft law was also planned for 2022, but did not go ahead that year either.
In December of last year, the Constitutional Court annulled paragraph 2, Article 8 of the current Law on Pension Schemes. This discriminatory provision had prevented thousands of Kosovars who did not meet the criteria of having worked for 15 years before January 1999 from receiving a contributory pension. Instead, they were only eligible for the old-age pension. The Constitutional Court’s decision came in response to a request from the Supreme Court which raised concerns about the provision’s constitutionality.
The Government of Kosovo and the Assembly of Kosovo accepted the verdict and two further requests: to start amending the Law on Pension Schemes no later than July 15, 2023 and to notify the court about the start of these amendments.
When a legal provision is declared to be inconsistent with the Constitution and other international regulations, the Constitutional Court requires that legislators correct the error as stated in their decision.
Although the Government was aware of the Court’s decision, when the 2023 Legislative Program was approved on January 25, 2023 it did not foresee the approval of the draft law which would amend the Law on Pension Schemes and address the Constitutional Court’s request.
It was only in late May after the fifth amendment to the Legislative program and its finalization for 2023 that the Government decided that the approval of the draft law on pension schemes should enter the legislative agenda. This was planned to take place on July 30, 2023 — 15 days later than the Court’s request.
On June 21, the Committee on Budget, Labor and Transfers invited the Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers, Hekuran Murati, to report on the failure to implement the Constitutional Court’s decision. He said that the Government of Kosovo and the Assembly would approve the Draft Law on Pension Schemes in June and that it would come into effect before July 15, 2023.
At a meeting on July 5, ten days before the deadline set by the Constitutional Court, the Government of Kosovo approved the Draft Law on Pension Schemes. According to the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti, the approval of this draft law would address years of discrepancies in recognizing eligibility for the contributory pension scheme.
In order to approve the draft law before July 15, the Assembly of Kosovo will require an expedited procedure, which will undermine the objective of implementing a significant pension reform and bypass the deadlines for public consultation. However, given that the Assembly session for approving this draft law has not been scheduled yet, the chances of this draft law coming into effect by July 15 are low.
Meanwhile, thousands of pensioners continue to have their rights violated until the amendment is approved.
Institutional delay perpetuates discrimination
Since approval of the Law on Pension Schemes in 2014, thousands of pensioners in Kosovo have been treated unequally.
According to the Constitutional Court, through paragraph 2 of Article 8 of the Law on Pension Schemes, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare has discriminated against citizens. No government and no legislation took steps to address this issue. In both 2018 and 2020, the Assembly passed resolutions urging the Government of Kosovo to make necessary changes in line with the Constitutional Court’s decision. However, these changes were never implemented and it took the Constitutional Court’s intervention to address the issue.
According to the article that the Constitutional Court has repealed, a citizen of Kosovo cannot enjoy the contributory pension if they cannot prove they have worked for 15 full years before 1999. A law approved by the Assembly of Kosovo in 2014 established this criteria and was based on the Law on Invalid Pension Insurance in the Official Gazette of the Autonomous Socialist Province of Kosovo and the federal Law of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
When the Assembly of Kosovo adopted the law in 2014, it did not take into account that due to the mass firing of ethnic Albanian state employees during the 90s, some Kosovars do not have the required 15 years of employment before 1999.
According to the Statistics Agency of Kosovo, there are 143,522 beneficiaries of the basic old-age pension in Kosovo, who receive 100 euros monthly. Additionally, there are 48,625 recipients of contributory pensions, which range from 170 to 260 euros per month based on educational qualifications.
Pensioners who are no longer eligible for a contributory pension due to the repealed provision only receive the old-age pension. Unfortunately, the exact number of individuals affected by this is unknown due to the absence of official public data. Minister Murati stated that approximately 74,000 pensioners will benefit from the changes proposed in the draft law.
At the Committee for Budget, Labor and Transfers meeting Minister Murati said that the draft law would be approved in June. However, it was approved on July 5. Moreover, Minister Murati seems to have overlooked the fact that the approval process, starting from the government and then in the Assembly of Kosovo, usually takes more than two months.
Therefore, in order for the law to enter into force in accordance with the Constitutional Court’s requirements, the accelerated approval of such a draft law would require bypassing deadlines established by the Assembly’s regulations. Deviating from deadlines by accelerated procedure was criticized in the 2022 Progress Report for Kosovo. Moreover, the Assembly of Kosovo ends its session on July 30, so the adoption of this draft law may be postponed until September, further complicating the situation. Even if the draft law is approved this month, its implementation for over 70,000 pensioners will take time, considering that the Ministry of Finance must approve a by-law on how to administer the procedure in the Department for Pensions.
Although the approval of this draft law is welcome, it should be noted that making changes that impact thousands of people requires a comprehensive social dialogue, which has not taken place under the current government. A more effective and inclusive decision-making process would be to involve interested parties in changes to social policies. If the Government of Kosovo were to accelerate the draft law’s approval it would be disregarding the Regulation on Minimum Standards for the Public Consultation Process. This regulation outlines the standards for consultation between public bodies, interested parties and the public in the drafting process for policy and legislation.
To avoid the need for an accelerated procedure and potential delays, the Government of Kosovo should have started work much earlier. The Government should ensure they conduct all procedures in a timely manner, in line with the Constitutional Court’s request and that they approve draft laws according to regular procedure.
In states with established democracies, which Kosovo aspires to be, judicial institutions and other public authorities respect the constitutional court’s decisions and efficiently implement their decisions. The efficient execution of decisions made by the constitutional court safeguards and protects human rights. Implementing decisions made by the Court is one of the foundations of the rule of law. Failing to respect and implement the Constitutional Court’s decisions leads to the rule of law’s deterioration and to human rights violations.
Kosovo’s institutions have been passive and negligent in this regard.
In addition to delaying the actual implementation of the decision, the accelerated approval of the draft law will undermine the long-awaited pension reform. Considering that this draft law will resolve inequalities and benefit over 70,000 Kosovars, institutions should have prioritized it and ensured a transparent process without delays which included all stakeholders. It is the responsibility of the Government and the Assembly to initiate a comprehensive national initiative for pension reform. This should address the discrimination identified by the Constitutional Court as well as other inequalities within the pension schemes.
Feature image: K2.0
