WRITTEN QUESTION E-2043/02 by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE)and Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Payment of pensions in Greece.
Date: 2002-07-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, European social policy, Greece, competence of the Member States, pension scheme, retirement conditions, social security legislation, social-security contribution

6.3.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 52 E/125

Country

Italy

Portugal

United Kingdom

Others

End 2000

End 2001

30 June 2002

Outstanding amount

553,37

94,23

90,03

26,24

56 %

10 %

9 %

3 %

Total

991,41

286,97

70,42

53,16

13,03

532,21

54 %

13 %

10 %

2 %

183,01

66,40

29,49

7,83

370,94

49 %

18 %

8 %

2 %

Among the principal causes for the delay in closing the programmes are: the existence of legal procedures
relating to programmes and projects in the Member States, over which the Commission has no control;
the failure of the authorities in the Member States to provide a final report in accordance with the
requirements of the regulation; the need to ensure the necessary followup to controls by the Commission
services, the Court of Auditors or by the European Anti-Fraud Office.

The progress that has been made to-date results in large part from the priority given to this work by the
Commission including the establishment of specialist taskforces. The Commission will maintain this effort
in order to ensure that the remaining programmes are closed as quickly as possible (1).

(1) Small balances from Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and some Interreg programmes.

(2003/C 52 E/143)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2043/02

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE)
and Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 July 2002)

Subject: Payment of pensions in Greece

A great deal of concern and complaints have been voiced among workers, such as musicians, in Greece
they will not manage to acquire the number of stamps necessary to establish their pension
that
entitlement.

In the light of the social agenda, the objective of a high level of social protection for European citizens and
the open coordination of pension schemes, what view does the Commission take of this particular feature
of the Greek pension system?

Does the Commission know whether the other Member States also require (cid:1) simultaneously (cid:1) a minimum
total number of days to be completed and a minimum total amount of contributions to be paid for
workers to establish their pension entitlements? What is that minimum?

Will the Commission take initiatives within its sphere of responsibilities to tackle such problems, which
affect workers’ quality of life and social security?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2002)

Pension systems are the responsibility of the Member States, and the new open method of coordination is
unlikely to alter this division of responsibilities between the EU and the Member States. The aim of the
open method of coordination is to put in place a framework allowing an exchange of information on
national policies and an analysis of these in relation to common objectives. It is not intended, at European
level, to look at pension arrangements for specific types of occupation in the Member States.

However, the common objectives concerning pensions (1) require the Member States firstly to ‘ensure that
older people are not placed at risk of poverty and can enjoy a decent standard of living; they share in the
economic well-being of their country and can accordingly participate actively in public, social and cultural

C 52 E/126

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.3.2003

life’ and secondly to ‘provide access for all individuals to appropriate pension arrangements, public and/or
private, which allow them to earn pension entitlements enabling them to maintain, to a reasonable degree,
their living standard after retirement’.

Under contributory pensions schemes, it is normal for entitlements to reflect both the level and duration of
contributions. In the case of workers who are unable to meet the necessary conditions for acquiring an
adequate pension, and to the extent that these conditions are in line with the principles set out in the
Treaty with regard to workers who have exercised their right to move freely, most of the Member States
have arrangements for guaranteeing a minimum level of income.

The Commission provides comparative information on general social protection schemes in its publication
Missoc, which is also available on the Europa website at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/
missoc2001/index_fr.htm.

(1)

Insert details of DG EMPL’s recent communication concerning pensions.

(2003/C 52 E/144)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2064/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(11 July 2002)

Subject: Misuse of websites and charge collection methods to confront consumers unexpectedly with the

biggest possible telephone bills

1.
Is the Commission aware that users of personal computers are taken unawares by unexpectedly large
bills for calling premium rate numbers, sometimes in distant countries, as a result of visiting websites
which give the impression that their purpose is to provide consumers with information or entertainment,
and that these costs arise from the fact that, after contact with the internet provider has been broken,
a connection is automatically established with a telephone number which is not broken once the visitor
leaves the website but is reactivated every time the consumer uses the internet again? Are these unforeseen
charges caused by the fact that software is in secret remotely installed on customers’ personal computers,
and are the large telephone charges incurred by customers in such situations not a side-effect but the
deliberate main purpose of these operators’ activities, bearing in mind inter alia that the holding open or
reopening of phone lines is kept secret from customers?

2.
Is the Commission also aware that the phenomenon of unexpectedly high telephone charges may
also arise if the customer himself consents to the installation of dialler access by means of which one can
pay for internet services, because the telephone company collects payments on behalf of businesses to
which it has leased the dialler numbers, while it does not prevent these numbers from being subleased to
other businesses with criminal intentions and does not prevent the setting of extremely high charges, so
that up to EUR 400 per minute is now being charged for content which is not serious?

3.
In view of this deliberate fraud against computer users, will the Commission increase protection
against abuses in international electronic commerce? What measures are being considered to this end, and
how soon could they enter into force?

Sources: De Volkskrant, 21 June 2002, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, 23 June 2002.

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(26 September 2002)

Electronic communication networks and information systems are an essential part of the daily lives of
European citizens and are fundamental to the success of the Union’s economy. Networks and information
systems are converging and are becoming increasingly interconnected.