Mr President, may I first of all thank Commissioner Diamantopoulou warmly on behalf of my group for her solid work in this communication, which gives us the opportunity to discuss pensions in a different way and allow me also to congratulate Mr Cercas Alonso on his excellent report. I hope, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, that our recommendation, on which we shall vote tomorrow, can prove an inspiration to the Gothenburg Summit and particularly will move the Council to involve the European Parliament in a more structural way in future in the discussion on the open coordination method on pensions. For that matter I am also grateful to the Swedish Presidency for the work that already been carried out in this field. I hope with all my heart that Gothenburg will be able to give a clear mandate to the Belgian Presidency to formulate common social goals in the context of European cooperation on pensions. As Mr Smet said just now it is, of course, the Member States who decide what pension system they want, how they organise it, and how they underwrite its financial robustness. However, the fundamental aim, namely to maintain and improve the quality of pension systems in Europe, is surely an aim that we must all share. It is, of course, clear that because of the dynamics of economic and monetary union, the pension dossier is already on the European agenda, although very one-sidedly, as part of the debate on the financeability of pension schemes. We believe that in the discussion we must never lose sight of the essential component, namely modernisation of pension systems so that we can guarantee today’s and future generations of pensioners a reasonable pension and a participation in social life. That debate is also about solidarity and also the equality of men and women. For us a number of principles are essential in this. I should like to mention four. Firstly, pension systems must be able combat poverty in an efficient way. It is unacceptable that in the European Union there should still be pensions, especially those of women, that fall below the poverty line. I should therefore like to be so bold as to ask the Commission, on the basis of the recommendation of 1992 to retable this pensions dossier on minimum payments. Secondly, reasonable pensions are of course more than the minimum necessary for survival. It is a matter of guaranteeing a certain standard of living. It is therefore important to retain the link between the general rise in prosperity and pensions. Thirdly, the second pillar of pensions must never replace the first because it is the first that gives the fundamental guarantee that everyone has access to an adequate pension. For my group it has long since ceased to be a question whether one is for or against the second pension pillar. Rather, it is a question of how we are to ensure that, even in that second pension pillar, solidarity is organised so that supplementary pensions do not remain the privilege of a small group. Naturally, Mr President, I could also continue the discussion on the necessary raising of the pensionable age, but I shall not do so. One thing should be clear: for my group, this does not mean a general compulsory rise in pensionable age, does mean measures to encourage people to continue working longer and to prevent companies from jettisoning older staff. I hope, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, that Gothenburg will be able to translate these principles into common objectives.

Political group: PSE