WRITTEN QUESTION E-0764/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Report by the European Round Table of Industrialists on state pensions.
Date: 2000-03-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: economic consequence, financing method, labour market, pension scheme, population ageing, supplementary pension

21.11.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 330 E/213

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(14 March 2000)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answer to her Written Question E-0243/00 (1).

(1) See page 108.

(2000/C 330 E/248)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0764/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(13 March 2000)

Subject: Report by the European Round Table of Industrialists on state pensions

A working party of the European Round Table of Industrialists chaired by Carlo De Benedetti has recently
submitted to Commission President Romano Prodi its conclusions on the financing of state pensions in the
European Union. The members of the working party say that state pensions act as a brake on economic
growth in Europe. They advocate the system of private pension schemes as an alternative.

Can the Commission answer the following:

1. Who are the authors of the report of the European Round Table of Industrialists on the financing of

state pensions in the fifteen Member States of the European Union?

2. Who are the members of the European Round Table of Industrialists?

3. What are the final conclusions of the European Round Table of Industrialists on the financing of state

pensions in the fifteen Member States of the European Union (please quote verbatim)?

4. Does the Commission endorse the final conclusions of the European Round Table of Industrialists on

the financing of state pensions in the fifteen Member States of the European Union?

(a)

If so, is the Commission of the opinion that the existing state pensions in the fifteen Member
States of the EU will eventually have to be replaced, either wholly or in part, by private pension
schemes?

(b)

If not, does the Commission advocate maintaining the state pensions which currently exist in the
fifteen EU Member States?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(17 April 2000)

1. and 2.
Answers should therefore be obtained directly from the European round table of industrialists.

The Commission is not responsible for the report mentioned by the Honourable Member.

3.

The report is available from the European round table(cid:146)s web site (www.ert.be).

4.
The design and structure of pension systems are the prerogative of Member States. The Commission
set out its views on pension design and pension reform in its communication (cid:145)Towards a Europe for all
ages(cid:146) of 21 May 1999 (1). Here it was emphasised that the most effective way to counter the threat of
ageing to the sustainability of pension systems is to reverse the trend towards early retirement and to raise
the employment rate for all of working age. The crucial changes will be those that enable and motivate
workers to work longer and to opt for a later and more gradual exit from labour markets, since this will
lead to a reduction in pension costs, extra revenue and larger productive input to growth. That pension
schemes are employment friendly is more important than whether they are pre-funded or pay-as-you-go.

C 330 E/214

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.11.2000

It is possible that funded provision for old age will become more important, but pay-as-you-go pension
schemes can be expected to continue providing the largest share in the total income of pensioners in most
Member States. Furthermore, it cannot be assumed that funded pension schemes will remain unaffected by
demographic change, although the impact of such change on asset prices and returns is more difficult to
predict than the impact on the financial equilibrium of pay-as-you-go systems.

This being said, the Commission believes that actions can be taken at Community level
in order to
enhance the efficiency of funded pension schemes. Several concrete proposals were made in its commu-
nication (cid:145)Towards a single market for supplementary pensions (cid:129) Results of the consultations on the Green
Paper on supplementary pensions in the single market(cid:146) (2) of 11 May 1999 including liberalisation of
investment and management rules in order to take advantage of Community-wide capital markets,
possibility for pension funds to manage pension plans on a cross-border basis, and transferability of
supplementary pension rights. As a first step, the Commission plans to adopt by mid-2000 a proposal for
a directive on pension funds. This proposal will establish strict prudential standards in order to protect the
future pensioners and contain investment rules allowing pension funds to optimise the
rights of
performance and security of their investments. It will also aim at the mutual recognition of national
prudential systems so as to facilitate cross-border affiliation.

In its communication (cid:145)A concerted strategy for modernising social protection(cid:146) (3) of 14 July 1999, the
Commission stressed the need (cid:145)to make pensions safe and pension systems sustainable(cid:146). This was endorsed
by the Council on 17 December 1999 when it called for a group of high-level officials to be set up for the
implementation of the action proposed in the communication. The group has now been established on an
interim basis and pensions are one of the initial issues it has decided to focus on. The Commission has
adopted a proposal for a Council decision which would formalise the group (4). The Lisbon special
European Council of 23-24 March 2000 has given the group the task of exploring the long term
sustainability of pension schemes.

(1) COM(1999) 221 final.
(2) COM(1999) 134 final.
(3) COM(1999) 347 final.
(4) COM(2000) 134 final.

(2000/C 330 E/249)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0795/00

by Stephen Hughes (PSE) to the Commission

(16 March 2000)

Subject: Lucent Technologies

In mid-1999 Angela Elliot Mathis, a British citizen and a senior executive and board member of Lucent
Technologies in Belgium, was dismissed without warning and with no reason given for the dismissal. She
had been (cid:145)head hunted(cid:146) from outside Belgium into the company just 13 months earlier because of her
excellent record in the IT sector and her record of performance with the company offers no explanation
for her dismissal. Under Belgian law she had no protection or rights against dismissal under these
conditions.

Does the Commission agree that individuals will be increasingly unlikely to take advantage of the
possibility to move and work wherever they like within the EU unless minimum social guarantees, such
as those on individual dismissals, are put in place throughout the EU?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(11 April 2000)

As regards protection against individual dismissals in the context of free movement of workers, Article 7
of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 of the Council of 15 October 1968 on freedom of movement for workers