WRITTEN QUESTION E-0473/04 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission. Pension adjustment.
Date: 2004-02-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: pension scheme, purchasing power, retired person, social policy, social-security harmonisation

C 84 E/596

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Austria

Portugal

Finland

Sweden

United Kingdom

18,2

103,4

2,9

106,9

24,7

9,2

12,1

23,0

159,5

The imports are measured according to the Cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value. This means that all
transport and insurance costs are included up to the border of the importing country.

These statistics are based on harmonised Community concepts which can differ, in some cases, from the
national concepts used by Member States.

(1)

Free trade goods (Regime 1). The corresponding statistics for total trade (Regime 4) are: EUR 987,2 billion for
November 2001-October 2002 and EUR 989,4 billion for the year 2002 (January-December). Goods included
under Regime 4 but not in Regime 1 are partially or totally exempted from import duties.

(2004/C 84 E/0671)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0473/04

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(23 February 2004)

Subject: Pension adjustment

Pension reform is now on the agenda in all the Member States for various reasons. Does the Commission
not think that the time has come to standardise pension reform on the basis of a common Community
model? Although the historical, social and economic reasons for the introduction of the present pension
systems vary,
there is one principle which should be safeguarded in all countries, that of pension
adjustment. The Italian Constitutional Court has already ruled (173/1986) that the minimum subsistence
amount insured is not merely the amount that satisfies vital basic needs but also needs commensurate with
the standard of living achieved by the worker concerned in terms of income and position. This approach
has also been advocated on several occasions at Community level, supported by the view that pension
adjustment solely on the basis of the percentage increase in the cost of living is not sufficient to maintain
pension purchasing power and that pensions should therefore also be linked to earnings and, in other
words, to salary and wage rises.

Pending the opening of a debate on a single European pension system, does the Commission not consider
that it could usefully address a communication to Member States to ensure that the principle of pension
adjustment is safeguarded, so as to avoid any further loss of pension purchasing power?

Answer given by Mr Dimas on behalf of the Commission

(22 March 2004)

One of the common objectives underlying the open method of coordination with regard to pensions calls
on Member States 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,

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/597

their living standard after retirement’. These objectives are not legally binding, and national pension
systems may differ considerably in their approach. However, the result should be to guarantee retired
people a standard of living that is not too different from that of the active population.

As life expectancy is increasing and people on average can look forward to a longer retirement, the
indexing of current pensions becomes an important factor in determining pensioners’ standard of living.
Most statutory pensions schemes provide for price indexing, while in some Member States indexing is at
least partly based on wages (1). Benefits payable under supplementary schemes are generally either fixed in
nominal terms or price-indexed.

The Commission has no plans for a communication to Member States calling on them to change their
pensions indexing systems. Any such action could be interpreted as a move towards the harmonisation of
legislation, which is explicitly ruled out by Article 137(2) of the EC Treaty. Furthermore, the question of
adequacy must be considered in a wider context, taking account of all the common objectives (including
those relating to financial sustainability) as well as other benefits that are important from the point of view
of older people’s quality of life. In this connection it may be legitimate for a Member State to decide to
limit price indexing of pensions, which may make it possible either to offer higher pensions immediately
after retirement or to finance other benefits for older people. The needs of retired people do in fact change
with age, and older pensioners may have more need for benefits in kind (health care and long-term
nursing care) than cash benefits.

(1)

For more details see website ‘Missoc (cid:1) Social protection in the Member States and the European Economic Area’
(http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/missoc/index_en.html).

(2004/C 84 E/0672)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0474/04

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(23 February 2004)

Subject: Closure of certain language sections of the European Schools

It would appear from a Commission document that there are plans to close the Italian, Dutch and German
sections of four European schools (Bergen, Culham, Mol and Karlsruhe).

The Commission:

1. Can it confirm the report and explain the reasons for taking this step?

2. Does it not think that these closures would be prejudicial to the rights of the families of staff working
in the centres concerned to educate their children in the culture of their country of origin, through
their mother tongue?

3. Does it not consider that children who are unable to attend a section in their own language and are
therefore obliged to attend another language section could become victims of cultural colonialisation
in languages which are becoming even more dominant because of arrangements of this kind?

4.

Should the cultural and linguistic diversity extolled in official speeches and texts not also be respected
in the system of European Schools, which, among other things, sets an inspiring example of how a
European dimension can be achieved in education?