Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-16-Speech-3-224"
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"en.20010516.9.3-224"2
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"Mr President, seeing the great care taken by the Ecofin Council to anticipate the long-term impact that funding pensions has on public finances makes one wish that equivalent care could be demonstrated with regard to sustainability, in order to prevent the deplorable long-term effects, for example, of the lack of fiscal harmonisation or of investments in the nuclear industry. Do not think, however, that the Group of the Greens is suggesting that we entrust the future of pensions to the Ministers of Finance.
We support those in the Commission, in some Member States and in Parliament, who see the future of pensions and of social protection primarily as social issues, as key elements of the model, which must be strengthened, and which cannot be reduced to its financial dimension. To hear some people talk, we might wonder if the prospect of living increasingly longer, and by ‘living longer’ I mean in good health as well, is not the greatest disaster threatening the citizens of the twenty-first century.
The report by Mr Cercas Alonso has the merit of not skirting the crux of the issue and of the debate. A certain increase in spending on pensions in the GDP is certainly unavoidable because of greater life expectancy, but the rapporteur quite rightly emphasises that changes in the rate of employment is a decisive factor. In this context, he recommends taking account of the rate of economic dependence and not only of demographic changes. Given the prospect of full employment, this takes us away from alarmist rates, which clearly seek to legitimise new forms of finance, raised individually and through capitalisation. The report also emphasises the invaluable role of guaranteed pension systems in combating the insecurity and social exclusion of the elderly, particularly women and workers who have had long periods of atypical work and who should be guaranteed a sufficient level of income to lead a decent life.
Lastly, the report warns against any attempt to undermine public pay-as-you-go pension systems. These systems guarantee intergenerational solidarity, which is essential to social cohesion and they enable real-time adjustments to be made to contributions, regardless of the fluctuations of the stock market situation.
This is why our group recommends that we adopt this report, without undermining its current balance."@en1
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