The Constitutional Court said Tuesday it judged inadmissible a referendum to abrogate a 2011 pension reform because it is "strictly linked" to the budget law, which can't be subjected to a popular vote. As well, the phrasing of the referendum had "obvious shortcomings", the court said to explain its January 20 ruling. The vote proposed by the right-wing Northern League party concerned article 24 of the December 22, 2011 law that raised the pensionable age and requirements for retirement on the basis of the number of years of social security contributions made.
It also had the unplanned effect of creating thousands of so-called 'exiled' (esodati) people who were left without a job and without pension rights for a number of years.
Opponents of the pension reform have also claimed it makes labour market entry for young people more difficult by extending the working lives of older people, penalising female workers in particular.
The technocrat administration of ex-premier Mario Monti pursued the pensions reform as part of EU-mandated austerity measures aimed at avoiding a Greek-style financial meltdown at the height of the eurozone debt crisis.
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