CELEX: 51981PC0779
Language: en
Date: 1981-12-09 00:00:00
Title: DRAFT COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on the principles of a Community policy with regard to retirement âge (presented by the Commission to the Council)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (81) 779
Vol. 1981/0221
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In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983
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In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1.
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                         COM(81)779 final
                                         Brussels - 9th December 1981
                              , /
                        DRAFT COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION
             on the principles of a Community policy with
             regard to retirement âge
                                    y
                 ( presented by the Commission to the Council )
  C0M(81 ) 779 final
 ---pagebreak---    >-     in                      \              I' ? or , tne adaptation cf « or<,r.5
 time ,, the Council stressed the importance it attached to the continuation
 by the Commission of its work on flexible retirement .            The Council considered
 that flexible retirement , which should be voluntary , should be developed in
 conjunction with measures to facilitate a gradual withdrawal from working
  life at the end of the worker 's career , such as part-time work and longer
 holidays for older workers .
          As a follow-up to that Resolution , on 14 July the Commission presented
 a Communication , " Community guidelines on flexible retirement " ( 1 ) which was
 discussed by the Standing Committee on Employment at its meeting on
 11 December 1980 .      A broad consensus emerged to the effect that workers should
 gradually be given the right to choose the time of their retirement , from a given
 age .    This consensus was accompanied by statements of the employers' and
workers'        viewpoints and the Committee considered that in future account should
be taken of specific national circumstances and the fields of competence of the
various parties concerned .         Accordingly , the Commission was invited to continue
 its work in this area and present appropriate proposals .            With respect to
phased retirement ( gradual reduction of working hours at the end of a worker 's
career ) the Committee considered that it could be made the subject of a
subsequent discussion .
2.       The aim of this Recommendation is to reflect this consensus in specific
proposals .       A Council Recommendation seemed the most appropriate instrument in
which to lay down guidelines corresponding to a long-term social policy goal
in the Member States while taking into account specific national circumstances
and the areas of competence of the various parties concerned .
         Similarly , it seemed advisable to make a distinction in the Recommendation
between a long-term commitment on the part of the Member States - the achievement
of the goal - and the short-term commitment relating to more limited obligations .
3.       The long-term commitment is to implement flexible retirement as
a common goal of Member States' social policies .             This means
freedom of choice of the time of retirement from a given age for
the entire working population , both employed and self-employed .
(1 )   COM ( 80 ) 393 final .
                                                                                     ./.
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 2 -
To this end , Member States are invited ( part A of the Recommendation ) to adopt
the requisite measures to achieve this goal . This can be done gradually within the
framework of statutory or occupational schemes ( schemes set up under collective
agreement , company schemes , etc .) taking as a basis a certain number of principles
which reflect the recommendations of the International Labour Organization in this
field .
4.      These principles provide for more flexibility in the rules applicable to
the age at which entitlement to a retirement pension is acquired ; the right to
freedom of choice with regard to the age of retirement after a given age ( identical
for men and women in accordance with the principle of equal treatment ); certain
alternative schemes ( e.g. fixed age with the possibility of bringing forward or
deferring application for pension , or pension after a given number of insurance
years ); the right to financial compensation for elderly workers whose working time
is being gradually cut down , the right to pursue an occupation subject to certain
limits when drawing a pension ; and retirement preparation programmes . The conditions
governing the introduction of measures offering financial incentives to encourage
elderly workers to vacate their jobs are indicated but are not regarded as an
integral part of the flexible retirement system .
                                                                           i
5.      The Commission would make a distinction between the application of these
principles , the main concern of which is the improvement of the quality of life and
a greater respect for the wishes of the individual and certain early retirement
schemes which it has promoted or supported in particular sectors ( e.g. steel ,
fishing ) and which , while not running counter to the above principles , are princi­
pally employment policy measures .
6.      Part B of the Recommendation envisages a further stage of reflection at the
Community level after a period of two years , when the Member States are asked to
examine and report to the Commission on their retirement systems in the light of the
principles set out in the Recommendation . In the light of this review the Commission
will report back to the Council on the application of flexible retirement ( progress ,
obstacles , difficulties , costs , etc .) and may make further proposals for the
realisation of the common objective , including possibly the fixing of the same
minimum age for retirement in all Member States . The Commission will also consider
at that time measures to extend the availability of phased retirement arrangements
and invites the Member States to give greater attention over the next two years to
                                                                                 ./.
 ---pagebreak--- policies and measures designed ,.0 avoid ihe abrupt transition from full-time
employment to retirement and to report to the Commission on their experience at
the end of this period . In the meantime , the Commission will continue and enlarge
its contacts with interested bodies with a view to developing its policy in the
field and awaits with interest the results of the European Parliament 's current
work on " The problem of old age in the Community countries ".
 ---pagebreak---                DRAFT COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION ON THE PRINCIPLES
             OF A COMMUNITY POLICY WITH REGARD TO RETIREMENT AGE
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing European Economic Community ,
Having regard to the draft Recommendation presented by the Commission ,
Having regard to the Opinion of European Parliament ,
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee ,
Whereas on 18 December 1979 the Council adopted a Resolution on the adaptation
of working time ( 1 );
Whereas a broad consensus was noted in the Standing Committee on Employment to the
effect that all workers should gradually be given the right from a certain
age to choose the time of their retirement ( 2 );
Whereas there are a great many arguments in favour of a more flexible approach
to retirement age , which are mainly related to the objective
needs and wishes of the persons concerned, but also to more general policy
considerations ;
Whereas a flexible retirement system would moreover be likely to contribute towards
a solution of the problem of equal treatment for men and women with respect
to retirement age ;
Whereas a trend towards more flexible systems is emerging in the Member States ,
which for the time being continue to provide for a fixed retirement age ;
whereas this trend is manifest in various ways ( provisions for flexible retirement
incorporated in the law , pensions after a certain number of insurance years , opportu­
nity to apply for a pension earlier or later than the statutory age , bringing down
the retirement age for certain categories of persons or for certain arduous or dan­
gerous occupations , early retirement pensions or guaranteed incomes for elderly wor­
kers who agree to leave their job before the statutory retirement age to provide
job opportunities for unemployed workers or workers threatened with dismissal ),
                                                                           ./.
( 1 ) OJ C 2 , 4 January 1980
( 2 ) Standing Committee on Employment , 20th meeting , 11 December 1980
 ---pagebreak--- INVITES THE MEMBER    STATES
to acknowledge flexible retirement , that is freedom to choose the time of
retirement after a given age for all workers , whether employed or self-employed ,
as one of the aims of their social policy ;
RECOMMENDS THE MEMBER STATES
A.      To adopt to this end the necessary measures to introduce flexible
retirement gradually into the framework of statutory or occupational insurance
schemes in accordance with the following principles :
1 . To ensure that retirement is voluntary , the rules governing the age from
    which an old age pension may be drawn should be made more flexible .   To this end
 "*               After a given age - identical for men and women - workers
    should be free to choose the time of their retirement .
 ~ Failing that , and as long as the system stipulates a fixed age for entitle­
    ment to a pension , workers should be offered the option , during a specified
    period , of applying for a pension in advance of the statutory age or requesting
    its deferment beyond that age . Reductions made to the amount of pensions taken
    early should not be such as to render pointless the exercise of the option .
  ~ Increased flexibility as regards the age of entitlement to an old age pension
    would also be achieved by a system under which entitlement to a pension
    arose after a given number of years of employment or membership of an insurance
    scheme .
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 3 -
5 . During a given period prior to retirement , elderly workers whose working
    time is gradually being reduced should receive a special allowance
    compensating   partly or in full for the reduction in their earnings , and
    their pension rights should not be impaired .
6 . Financial incentives to promote the early departure of elderly workers
    should only be applied for a limited period in the event of exceptional
    economic circumstances and should not be regarded as an integral part of
    a flexible retirement system .
7 . Workers receiving an old age pension cannot    be excluded from all forms
    of paid employment .
8 . Workers who are within two years of the minimum retirement age should have
    access to appropriate counselling services and retirement preparation
    programmes .
B.     To undertake , as a first stage , an examination of their retirement systems
in the light of these principles over the next two years ; and to examine also
the feasibility of generalising opportunities for phased retirement with a view
to easing the transition out of full-time employment into retirement .
       Member States shall communicate the results of these examinations to the
Commission within two and a half years of the adoption of this Recommendation ,
to enable it to draw up a report for presentation to the Council within a further
six months , on progress made and obstacles encountered in applying flexible
retirement and phased retirement , and to propose any other measures needed to
achieve common objectives and to ease the transition of workers out of full-time
employment into retirement .