Under the new law, pensioners will be able to have their money back in two ways. They will be able to claim cash payments over a period of two years, in which case they will receive 50 per cent of the sum claimed, or they will be able to claim the full sum to be paid over a period of eight years with a two-year grace period.
The Parliament also adopted amendments to the Pension Insurance Act, changing the pension adjustment formula. Lawmakers opted for the so-called Swiss model, under which pensions will be adjusted to half the sum of growth of wages and living costs rather than to nominal wage growth as has been the case so far. This model will become effective as of February 2006.
The model was adopted by 74 votes in favour, 33 against and eight abstentions.
The new pension adjustment formula will also be applied to pension allowances for war veterans.
Also adopted were amendments to the Housing Saving Incentives Act, whereby government incentives for housing savings were reduced from 25 to 15 per cent.
Deputies passed the new Civil Servants Act, which aims to raise the quality of the civil service by introducing a new job classification and enabling advancement in service based on knowledge and skill, and amended the Public Procurement Act and the Postal Service Act.
The Parliament also paid tribute to the victims of the Srebrenica massacre by adopting a declaration marking the 10th anniversary of the single worst atrocity in Europe since World War Two. The declaration denounced the crimes committed by Bosnian Serb forces as an act of genocide.
An estimated 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed after Bosnian Serb forces overran the UN-declared safe area of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia ten years ago.
The Parliament concluded its spring/summer sitting by appointing new members of the State Judicial Council. The autumn sitting is scheduled to start in September.