President Laszlo Solyom has sent the law on private pensions to the constitutional court for review, the president’s office said in a statement on Monday.
The president believes that it is in the public interest that the private pension system should be transparent and sustainable in the long term, while at the same time those affected should have the constitutionally guaranteed opportunity to withdraw from the mandatory social insurance if they feel that the changes are disproportionately disadvantageous to them. So long as the law fails to offer this guarantee of withdrawal, the president considers that the law transgresses constitutional rights of the client.
Earlier, leader of opposition Fidesz’s parliamentary group, Tibor Navracsics, insisted that the law passed in December was unconstitutional and asked Solyom to refer it to the constitutional court.
The new law amends the law on private pension funds — which forms a part of the overall pension system — so as to regulate the transformation process of funds into companies limited by shares from 2013.
Navracsics said that whereas under the old system it was possible for pension-fund members — whom he termed as “owners” — to take out their savings in a lump sum and pass it on to their heirs, the new system will make them into clients, restricting their right to have a say in how their assets are managed.