assumptions of life expectancy, especially in defined benefit schemes. higher or lower labour productivity assumptions affect pension spending through their link to wage increases. if pensions are linked to wages the productivity and concomitant wage and pension increase cannot of course relieve pension spending. interest rates only matter in case of funded or partially funded schemes. employment rates also matter less in most countries, since they tend to affect both the contribution and the benefit side as well as the level of gdp. however in the case of a defined benefit system, the increase of the eligibility age through longer working time and less generous early retirement helps considerably in re - establishing an actuarial neutrality. 1 ) life expectancy : links between earnings and benefits systemic reforms to meet demographic pressure that adjust benefits or the pension age to increasing life expectancy have been proposed or implemented in around half of oecd countries. defined contribution schemes funded or with notional accounts exist in hungary, poland, slovakia, italy, sweden ; a points system exists in germany ; financial sustainability adjustments were introduced in austria, finland, portugal, denmark and france. some countries introduced private or partly private dc schemes as a substitute for part of the public earnings - related scheme. however there is still a transfer of resources between generations from workers to retirees and the overall financial effect remains uncertain. social effects on lower earners remain untested since financial sustainability adjustments, due to increases in average life expectancy, might hit lower earners disproportionally. since much of the pressure on pension costs is yet to come, some countries have resorted to measures like broadening the contribution base ( by increasing ceilings or contributions or by financing some costs from general revenue ). increasing numbers of cross border workers would also fall in this category of temporary short - term or self - defeating measures with a high long term cost for the economy. the epc found that only 4 smaller euro member states ( cyprus, ireland, luxembourg and malta ) are expecting considerably increased employment by 2050 as shown in the chart on slide 10. 2 ) benefits adjustment adjustment towards financial sustainability or actuarial neutrality is mostly done through changes in the statutory retirement age and less generous indexation to price or real wage developments or valorisation. a ) take - up ratio most oecd countries now have a standard retirement age of 65. denmark, germany and the united kingdom are in the process of legislating increases. retirement ages for men and women are being equalized. in most countries efforts

. it will include analysis of shocks hitting the euro area economy and projections of key macroeconomic variables. the governing council recalled that since the inception of the single monetary policy the economic analysis has been deepened. the governing council confirmed the importance of projections, but also recalled that they will not exhaust the economic analysis. the monetary analysis will then follow to assess medium to long - term trends in inflation in view of the close relationship between money and prices over extended periods. it will take into account developments in the extended range of monetary indicators including not only m3, but also its components and counterparts, notably credit, and various measures of excess liquidity ( money gaps, monetary overhang, etc. ). in essence, monetary analysis mainly will serve as a means of cross - checking, from a medium - to long - term perspective, the short to medium - term indications coming from economic analysis. this cross - checking ensures that monetary policy has a nominal anchor beyond the conventional projection horizon. the governing council confirmed that both, the short - term assessment from economic analysis and the medium - to long - term assessment based on monetary analysis lead to a compound single assessment. this single assessment is the fundament of governing council decisions. this new structure of the introductory statement better illustrates that the two perspectives offer complementary analytical frameworks to support the overall assessment of risks to price stability. overall conclusion to sum up, the strategy evaluation by and large confirmed the key elements of the existing strategy. in different fields, the decisions taken by the governing council ensure a high degree of continuity : first, the governing council continues to reject a strategy of inflation targeting. second, the strategy will continue to entail three main elements, namely a quantitative definition of the primary objective of price stability and the " two pillars " of the strategy used to achieve this objective. third, the quantitative definition of price stability continues to refrain from rejects a corridor for inflation outcomes. fourth, the type of analysis undertaken under both economic and monetary pillars is unchanged. within the existing framework, though, the governing council undertook distinct clarifications. first, the quantitative definition of price stability has been clarified by defining the aim of the eurosystem within the existing definition ( i. e. close to 2 % " from below " ). second, by restructuring the introductory statement of the president the governing council has – and will continue to do so – clarified the scope of the enriched monetary analysis and its use in monetary policy making as a means of cross - checking. in order