AGE response to the Commission's Consultation on the “Green Paper: towards adequate, sustainable and safe European pension systems”
November 2010
AGE welcomes the holistic approach that the GP takes to the issue of pension reforms and the range of questions it raises on potential EU action to help Member States (MS) develop adequate, sustainable and safe pension systems. Without questioning MS full competence on pensions issues, AGE feels that the latest financial and economic crisis has shown that European economies are all interdependent and no Member State can any longer guarantee on its own the adequacy, safety and sustainability of its pension system. It is therefore the role of the EU to ensure that all Member States apply sound governance rules to manage their public finances and new EU rules are needed to improve the solvency of occupational pension institutions and to address financial markets erratic behaviours.
AGE members hope that this public consultation will trigger national and EU debates on what is an adequate income in old age, how to ensure the long-term sustainability of our pension systems through more solidarity and fairness between and within generations, how to improve gender equality at all ages and how to address the social impact of the shift from statutory pay-as-you-go to funded schemes and from defined-benefit to defined-contributions pension plans.
