Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-23-Speech-2-277"
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".
Mr President, I should like to congratulate and thank Mr Andersson. The report on adequate and sustainable pensions touches on one of the most burning issues in the hands of all the governments.
Reforms in each country are, of course, a national responsibility, but I would say that we are turning a blind eye if we fail to look at the European dimension and the need for cooperation, not only because there is a very close economic dependency between the economies of the Member States, but also because our analysis has resulted in convincing conclusions that the causes of the crisis in the pension systems are precisely the same in all the countries. They are demographics, longer life expectancy, the new working models and the new family models.
Using the open method of cooperation was the first important attempt made at European level for the countries to cooperate with each other. We agreed on three lines of approach. The first concerned the economic viability of the pension systems. The second concerned adequate pensions, meaning a dignified standard of living for pensioners, which is something Mr Andersson insists on in his report. And the third is the adaptability of the pension systems, so that they take account of changes.
The reference in the report to the link between pension systems and the labour market is important, and I shall explain how the Commission is meeting the demands made in the report with a series of initiatives.
First, the question of increasing the actual retirement age. It is clear, on the one hand, that it is important and necessary to change the age limit, for reasons of sustainability and, on the other hand, that this cannot be done on its own, without flanking employment policies which will help elderly workers to remain in the labour market, because today, due to the culture which exists in the labour market, the reality which has existed for many years, it is very difficult for elderly workers over 55 years of age to find work easily. Within this framework, both the European strategy on employment and the European Social Fund are being called on to play an important role.
The second important issue is that the Commission, on the orders of the European Council, is continuing to apply the coordination method. In 2005, we shall move to a new report on the monitoring of the systems, while the Social Protection Committee will examine the contribution of social systems to the extension of working life.
Finally, we are constantly monitoring the indicators to which we committed in Barcelona and we have agreed on the need to increase the actual retirement age by five years by 2010.
To come back to what Mr Andersson said about the gender dimension. The gender dimension is most important in pension systems, especially in the private sector. I should like to remind you, ladies and gentlemen, that in the private sector there is no equal treatment of men and women, while account is mainly taken of the gender criterion when calculating pensions.
Two more points: the issue of enlargement, on which we have constant communication with the Member States, so that they can also integrate the issue of mobility. The report refers in detail to how we can overcome the obstacles which exist in the labour market in Europe and with mobility, which is an issue for which we have drawn up a ten-year action plan."@en1
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