Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-04-02-Speech-1-087"
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"en.20010402.7.1-087"2
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"Mr President, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs is currently working on one of the important subjects on the European agenda, which was also one of the focal points of the discussions at the Stockholm European Council, namely the issue of demographic change, combined with comprehensive social protection, and other issues related to pension schemes within the European Union.
At the moment, we have on the table the Commission proposal on supplementary occupational retirement provision. This is certainly – in particular from the point of view of European integration – a very important proposal, which should complement the statutory pension scheme and, together with a private pension, form, as it were, a three-pillar basis for secure retirement provision in the European Union.
The second pillar, the supplementary occupational pension, will certainly play an increasingly important role in the Member States of the European Union. One reason for this is, of course, that, owing to demographic change, State security systems are experiencing financing problems, but it is primarily because we wish to have pensions which will provide for a secure future.
In this context it should be noted that the Commission has not yet submitted a proposal for a directive to Parliament which covers the whole package necessary for an occupational pension, as it promised it would last year, but only one part of it. The European Commission's proposal for a directive contains no reference to tax arrangements. For us it is very important to know to what extent the existing regulations are to be supplemented by proposals to harmonise taxes or proposals for new taxation arrangements. Commissioner, you have announced that a communication will soon be published. In order to actually give our opinion on the overall package, it is very important for us to know to what extent the principle of the free movement of workers might not be undermined by diverging national taxation, by different taxation of contributions, including to occupational pension schemes, and by different taxation of pensions themselves, because we do have downstream taxation in many Member States. All of these questions remain open and are closely bound up with the success of the proposal for a directive which you have tabled.
I have one further comment: it is unacceptable for workers to be discriminated against solely on the basis of the place where they then draw this pension. Neither tax avoidance, nor unfair tax competition, nor insufficient exchange of information on tax are responsible for this problem. What we actually need here is coordination of tax policies, the initial moves towards which looked so promising with the Monti package. It is also in the interests of workers who wish to engage in cross-border activities – and the Treaty provides for this – that we need to make this possible. That is why for us in the European Parliament it is terribly important that we also receive answers from you, before we complete our discussions, on how tax coordination is to be guaranteed in this sector."@en1
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