WRITTEN QUESTION E-3818/03 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Conditions for awarding pensions in Greece.
Date: 2003-12-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU law - national law, Greece, pension scheme, retirement conditions, social legislation, social security

C 78 E/650

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

(2004/C 78 E/0691)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3818/03

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 December 2003)

Subject: Conditions for awarding pensions in Greece

Pensioners in Greece have complained that in all the other EU Member States the main criterion for
awarding a pension is the advent of the so-called ‘insurance risk’, namely the time when the citizens reach
a certain age at which the normal risks associated with ageing appear. This is apparently not the case in
Greece, where the basic criterion for each citizen is completion of a minimum number of years of
employment (evidenced by contribution records).

They complain in particular that throughout the rest of the European Union each citizen acquires pension
rights as soon as he reaches a certain age and the size of his pension is strictly proportionate to the
number of years of employment (however few), which is not the case in Greece.

One of the results of this state of affairs is that a fair number of very elderly Greek women (who have no
contribution records to show, since they spent their whole lives bringing up children in the family and
housekeeping) receive no pension at all, if, for example, their spouse receives a monthly pension of the
order of EUR 600. More generally, it should be pointed out that Greek pensions are the lowest in the
European Union, with very broad categories of pensioner (almost 90 %) receiving a monthly pension of
less than EUR 500, and other categories (for instance taxi drivers and others) receiving pensions of
EUR 300 or less.

Will the Commission say whether the criteria applied in Greece for awarding pensions are completely in
line with Community legislation? Do citizens in the other EU Member States receive a minimum pension
with the advent of the so-called ‘insurance risk’, i.e. when they reach a given age, regardless of their
contribution records? Will it provide a breakdown of these minimum pensions in the other 14 Member
States? Do pensioners in the other EU Member States receive pensions strictly proportionate to their
employment contributions (however few) when they reach a certain age? Will it give an analytical table of
this age in the other 14 Member States? Is it in line with Community legislation that very elderly Greek
citizens should not be entitled to any pension at all, even though they have made employment
contributions (albeit few)? Under EU legislation could they claim a pension (cid:1) however small (cid:1) in
proportion to their contributions?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(28 January 2004)

The design of pension systems falls within the responsibilities of the Member States. Union law on social
protection concerns only very limited aspects such as the rights of people who move from one Member
State to another and equal treatment of men and women (with certain exceptions still holding as regards
the retirement age and survivors’ benefits). There is no Union legislation on the link between contribution
payments and benefit entitlements.

The design of statutory pension schemes differs widely across the Union. Some countries pay a flat-rate
pension from the age of 65 (in Denmark and the Netherlands this is based on residence, in Ireland on
contributions). In most Member States, pensions are linked to insured earnings with a tendency to take
into account increasingly long earnings histories. There are, however, a number of ways in which statutory
pension schemes deviate from strict insurance principles. Minimum contribution periods may be required
before an entitlement to a pension is earned (thus in some cases, contributions may remain without a
counterpart in terms of benefits); on the other hand, certain periods without contribution payments
(unemployment,
illness, career breaks for family reasons, education periods) may be recognised as
equivalent to pensionable employment periods. Earnings or contribution related statutory pension schemes
often also guarantee a minimum pension level.

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/651

Details on such features in national pension systems can be found in the publication ‘Missoc (cid:1) Social
Protection in the Member States and the European Economic Area’ (1) and in the Joint Report by the
Commission and the Council on Adequate and Sustainable Pensions of March 2003 (2). The latter contains
in particular tables on the retirement age (table 7) and on minimum income guarantees for older people
(table 1).

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/missoc/index_en.html
(2) http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-prot/pensions/index_en.htm

(2004/C 78 E/0692)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3820/03

by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission

(12 December 2003)

Subject: Connection to electricity and water supplies

Further to Written Question E-2399/03 and the Commission’s reply, will the Commission please reply to
the same question but with regard to the parts of Scotland that are not within the Highland and Islands
Region?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(27 January 2004)

3 746 381 people in Scotland live in areas eligible under Objective 2 of the Structural Funds or in
Objective 2 transitional areas. The interventions are organised under three Objective 2 Programmes in
accordance with Commission Decisions taken on 21 and 22 March 2001: the West of Scotland Objective
2 Programme, the East of Scotland Objective 2 Programme and the South of Scotland Objective 2
Programme.

Under Objective 2, the interventions relate to the diversification and revitalisation of areas in economic
decline. Infrastructures in these areas are supported where they are ‘a prerequisite for the location or
development of job-creating economic activities’. In all three Objective 2 Programmes there is provision
for actions to promote the adoption of waste minimisation, energy efficiency and environmental
management to benefit economic activity and better protect the environment through more efficient use
of resources.

The responsibility for deciding on the selection of projects co-financed by European Structural Funds lies
with the Regional Partnership for each Objective 2 Programme. For the West of Scotland Programme, this
is the Strathclyde European Partnership Ltd (SEP Ltd), for the East of Scotland, this is the East of Scotland
European Partnership Ltd (ESEP Ltd) and for the South of Scotland, this is the South of Scotland
Partnership (SOSEP).

(2004/C 78 E/0693)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3827/03

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Funding for the network of Carrefours and Info-Points

(12 December 2003)

The European network of Carrefours and Info-Points Europe recently publicly protested at the decision of
the Directorate-General for Press and Communication of 29 September to cancel the annual allocation of
EUR 20 000 for Carrefours and Info-Points Europe and its proposal merely to maintain collaboration in
distributing documentation, training and running helpdesks. They complained that this ‘unilateral decision,
taken without any consultation and at such short notice’ would affect the budget and activities of all the
structures involved.