A long-term legal battle is entering the final stretch, concerning pension cuts during the period of the economic crisis, as well as the right to return to pensioners part of these cuts. By October, the decision of the Supreme Special Court is expected to be issued, which will judge whether the 350,000 pensioners who have appealed to the Court will immediately receive their 13th and 14th pensions (the Christmas – Easter gifts – summer allowance), as well as the cuts in the auxiliary the pensioners.
The decision will only concern the eleven months June 2015 – May 2016 and not the entire period for which they have appealed.
The total cost of a similar decision reaches 500 million euros. However, if the government decides to extend its application to all pensioners (2,500,000), the cost of performance of retroactives reaches 2.5 billion euros.
The matter was brought to the Supreme Special Court after the different – conflicting decisions of the two supreme courts (Supreme Court and Council of State) which related to the eleven months June 2015 – May 2016 and not to the total period for which the pensioners have appealed.
After conflicting decisions, the Supreme Special Court is called upon to resolve the matter
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the cuts to private sector supplementary pensions in terms of Christmas and Easter gifts and the 11-month holiday allowance from 2015 to 2016 are constitutional. The reasoning of the court is based on the assumption that the cuts were made to serve matters of general interest, which touch the public interest, as they are related to the economic rescue of the country.
“Pensioners expect a positive decision”
On the contrary, the SC has judged that cuts are unconstitutional to gifts and vacation pay made under the fiscal adjustment laws of 2012and in particular for the 11 months between 2015 and 2016.
After these conflicting decisions, the Supreme Special Court is called upon today to resolve this issue. It is noted that the presidents of the Supreme Courts of the country and their members participate in this.
According to the law office of Mr. L. Apostolidis “the pensioners expect a positive decision from the AED, which will lead to the unity of the legal order, both in the private and public sectors, on the constitutionality or otherwise of Law 4093/2012 ».
Whatever the high court’s decision, it is certain that its issuance will end a years-long legal adventure by thousands of pensioners who have been taken to court to claim a share of the money they lost during the financial crisis.
The pensioners
It should be noted that all the pensioners are waiting for the resolution of the pending case, hoping for a “political solution” that will vindicate them, decongesting – at the same time – also the courtrooms. The pensioners are waiting for the granting, to all of the retrospectives concerning the cuts in gifts and supplementary pensions for the eleven months June 2015 to May 2016.
The government – so far – avoids committing to something similar citing the high cost of such a decision, as the full performance of retroactives costs around 2.5 billion euros.
From the specific eleven months – the cuts of which were deemed unconstitutional – only the reductions related to the main pensions were retroactively returned in October 2020.
The government also did not pay the gifts, as was expressly foreseen by the SC decision of 2019. There followed new appeals to the SC from pension organizations, while now the Supreme Special Court is asked to give the solution.
The claims concerned 723 million for the retroactives of the auxiliaries and 1.875 billion euros for the public and private sector gifts.
Source: ot.gr
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