The voluntary pension fund was created in 1990, when there was no single statute for MEPs. The fund was closed in 2009, which meant that no MEPs could join the scheme as of 2009 when the new MEPs’ single statute entered into force.

From the moment she came in office, President Metsola tasked the Parliament services to assess the situation and look for the best measures to mitigate the impact of the deficit as swiftly as possible.

The measures adopted today by the Bureau modify the conditions of the scheme. These reduce the nominal amount of the pensions by 50% and freeze the automatic indexation of the pension amount for all beneficiaries, while increasing the pensionable age from 65 to 67 for the beneficiaries not yet in pension.

The Bureau also creates a 6 months possibility for all beneficiaries to withdraw voluntarily from the pension scheme via a one-off payment.

These far-reaching measures are primarily aimed at reducing the actuarial deficit of the fund, thus putting it…