All people born in 1961 and later will have to work two years longer.
Croatian workers will be able to take early retirement at the age of 64, while the regular retirement age will be raised to 67. That is the most important change that the government of Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković will soon present to the European Commission and to the citizens, reports Večernji List on April 21, 2016.
The presentation which members of the government held for social partners shows that the government has decided to accept all three recommendations of the European Commission related to the conditions for retirement. Starting from next year, the process of the harmonization of retirement age for men and women will be accelerated, so women will have to work six months longer each year until 2023, when their retirement age will be equal to men’s.
Thereafter, retirement age for both men and women will be raised by six months every year, so starting from 2028 everybody will have to work until they are 67 years old – which means that the change will happen ten years earlier than was planned by former government led by Prime Minister Zoran Milanović. Thus, women born in 1958 will fulfil preconditions for full retirement in 2023, when they turn 65, and not in 2020 as provided by current law. All those born in 1961 and later will fulfil conditions for early retirement when they turn 64, and for full retirement three years later.
The shortening of the period in which workers will be able to apply for an early retirement from five to three years is a major attack on the pension rights of people who are unemployed at that age.
“These proposals deserve to be condemned, they are totally unacceptable and SDP will find a way to oppose them, because this government is not thinking about the citizens, but is rather pandering to big business and employers”, said former Labour Minister Mirando Mrsić.
“We are absolutely against any changes, and it would be particularly shocking to shorten the period for early retirement to three years. The European Commission has no jurisdiction over pension rights, and the Prime Minister needlessly bowed his head in front of them even before he started discussions with social partners”, said trade unionist Krešimir Sever. According to this proposal, grandparents and grandchildren would fight for the very same jobs.
