Press Release

25 November 2010.

Pension Funds want an EU-ombudsman

Government breaches law, discriminates 3 million people

Stabilitás Pension Fund Association is to hand in a petition to the European Parliament to appoint
an EU-ombudsman to investigate the pension related measures of the Hungarian government on
the basis of the government’s infringe of 3 million pensioners’ constitutional right. At the same
time, the funds have indicated that when all the domestic legal remedies are used, they are going
to appeal to Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights on the basis of discrimination and
infringing the ban of law abusing.

Julianna Bába, president of the Association said: from their point of view, the law passed by the
government and the regulations modified by the law infringes all the relevant paragraph of the
Constitution on legal certainty, ban of discrimination, social welfare, protection of ownership and
human dignity. According to Bába, in the latter case, the disputed regulation on fully warranting the
fund members’ stepping back to state system is debited on the interest of those who wish to stay,
while creating a situation when the operation of the pension funds are annihilated. This means that
people who wished to stay in the private pension fund system have to step back into the state
system against their will and giving up their autonomy of action. According to Stabilitás, this exigency
harms the human dignity of 3 million pension fund members. Stabilitás says that the government
should transfer the 24 percent employee tax to the private pension fund individual account to even
those who wish to stay in the private pension fund system. Only in this case can we really talk about
free choice, in other cases these government measures mean restraints, which are against the basic
Constitutional Rights.

The President of the Association emphasized: besides the government measures infringe almost all
the paragraph of the current Constitution, these are also against the principles of the European
Union. The 9th clause of the EU-Treaty says that the Union takes into consideration (…) the
requirements on ensuring social welfare and fighting against social discrimination when determining
and executing policies and actions. As a member of the European Federation for Retirement
Provision (EFRP), which is one of the most significant negotiator of the European Union at the field of
regulation and development of privately managed pension assets the Association is going to hand in
a petition to the European Parliament to appoint an EU-ombudsman to investigate the private
pension funds related measures of the Hungarian government on the basis of infringing the content
of the clause.

The President also said that when all the domestic legal remedies are used, they are going to appeal
to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights. From their aspect, the planned measures
of the government infringe the ban of discrimination as the measures put people who wish to stay in
the private pension system into at a disadvantageous position in an institutionalized way. At the
same time, the modification clause of the Constitution that declares “that measures shall be applied
even on ongoing processes is against the ban of breaching the law according to the European
Convention of Human Rights. Julianna Bába added that they have already engaged into discussions
with trade unions that they should initiate the calling of the National Council for the Reconciliation of
Interest. At this forum, the government should report what kind of impact studies and background
studies were prepared before such a profound restructuring of the pension system, which endangers

További információ: Juhász Istvánné • főtitkár, Stabilitás Pénztárszövetség

E-mail: press@stabilitas.hu, Tel.: +36 1 883 0401, Fax: +36 1 883 0301
Press Release
25 November 2010.

the old age safety of 3 million active employees while only serving the short term goals of the state
budget.

További információ: Juhász Istvánné • főtitkár, Stabilitás Pénztárszövetség

E-mail: press@stabilitas.hu, Tel.: +36 1 883 0401, Fax: +36 1 883 0301