Court rules higher civil service retirement ages constitutional

Greece's highest administrative court has ruled that hikes in retirement ages in the civil sector introduced in 2015 as part of lender-mandated reforms are constitutional.

The Council of State ruled against an appeal lodged by the country's biggest umbrella union for civil sector workers, ADEDY, challenging the legality of the measure, which foresees a gradual increase in retirement aged across the public administration through 2022.

Judges ruled that changes to retirement ages are in line with the Greek Constitution when they are intended to help ensure the survival of the social security system, as was the case with the 2015 reforms.

The 2015 reforms, they said, “serve the purpose of the public interest and not  just the financial interests of the state, as ADEDY claims.”

“The gradual increase of retirement ages is aimed first and foremost at rationalizing the pension system by preventing early retirements before the legal pensionable age,” the Council of State judges added.