No broad agreement on pensions

It now seems clear that the three coalition parties, supported by Sjálvstýri (the Self-Government Party), will be passing the pension reform bill, according to the Minister of Social Affairs.

The five bills that form the basis of the pension reform have been at the committee stage for two months and will soon return to parliament.

The reform bill, which was presented at the Ministry of Social Affairs on 3 November 2017, was backed by 18 MPs.

Sambandsflokkurin (the Union Party) appears to be closest to an agreement with the coalition. However, the party insists that the basic amount of the retirement pension must not change. This has become a crucial point for the Union Party and is likely to decide whether party leader Bárður Nielsen supports the pension reform.

The basic amount must be set off

The coalition disagrees with the Union Party on this matter. The reform will not be financially sustainable unless the basic amount is set off, says Eyðgunn Samuelsen, the Minister of Social Affairs.

The other opposition parties – Fólkaflokkurin (the People’s Party) and Miðflokkurin (the Centre Party) – remain undecided. Neither of them approves of the coalition’s plan to strengthen the joint and several labour market pension fund.

Jørgen Niclasen, the leader of the People’s Party, says that the plan to transfer personal savings from private pension savings accounts to the joint and several labour market pension fund amounts to robbing private pension savings accounts.