Labour Ministry state secretary Majda Buric informed the parliamentary Labour, Pension System and Social Partnership Committee on Wednesday that the government was withdrawing from procedure amendments to the Labour Act the committee was to have discussed today.

She did not say why the government was doing so.

Committee chair Gordan Maras of the opposition Social Democratic Party said “it’s unusual” to do so just before the start of the committee meeting, while Ante Babic of the ruling HDZ said “the circumstances are such, the government is talking with the social partners.”

An external committee member noted that this was done without the social partners’ knowledge, to which Buric replied that the government acknowledged the social partners, cooperating both with the unions and the Croatian Employers Association (HUP).

Earlier this morning HUP cancelled a scheduled press conference with the explanation that it had been notified by the government that it would withdraw from further procedure a bill of amendments to the Labour Act which regulated the possibility of working for another three years after qualifying for age pension eligibility at 65.

Said bill was part of a pension reform package and we have also been notified that the necessary labour legislation improvements will be discussed through the social dialogue, HUP said.

The government says on its website that it held a conference call on Tuesday at which it decided to withdraw six bills from parliamentary procedure, and that it will discuss the bills with the social partners and then send them into regular procedure.