Deset let důchodového pojištění v ČR jako členské země EU
Ten years of pension insurance in the Czech Republic as an EU member state

Summary/Abstract: After the overthrow of communist rule in 1989, the entire social system underwent a transformation, giving rise to new institutions and new social concepts and mechanisms. In the field of pension security, social insurance premiums were introduced as a special payment outside the taxation system in 1993; in 1994 Act No. 42/1994, on supplemental pension insurance with a state contribution, launched the 3rd pillar of the pension system in the form of private saving for retirement with a state contribution. The 1st pillar of the Czech pension system was established by Act No. 155/1995, on pension insurance. Right from the start the system was designed with a high degree of solidarity, which placed demands on its financial sustainability. Parametric adjustments were therefore rolled out gradually over the years: e.g. increasing the minimum insured period, changing the level of premiums, increasing the retirement age, limiting the extent of included substitute periods etc. The so-called minor pension reform in 2011, undertaken in connection with a ruling of the Constitutional Court, brought an adjustment of the reduction limits with a view to strengthening the merit factor in the pension system and extending the reference period for calculating pensions. In order to ensure greater diversity in sources of funding, fiscal sustainability and the spreading of the financial burden across more generations within the pension system, the establishment of the 2nd pillar, the capital-funded pillar, was enacted, but with fewer than 100,000 participants it fell short of expectations. The current government decided to abolish the 2nd pillar. It set up an expert pension commission tasked with recommending how to abolish the 2nd pillar, revising the mechanism for increasing the retirement age and finding ways to motivate the population to save in the 3rd pillar. It should also draw up a new form of pension valorisation and find a way to even out transfers between citizens, families and the state.

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