01 November 2001

UNICE: Strategy Paper on Sustainability of Pensions

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This paper discusses some of the measures needed to cope with pension provision in the face of a society with an ageing population. The situation calls for further reform of public pension systems; development of occupational pension schemes; more personal pension arrangements, and recognition of the European dimension in the exchange of national experience, the monitoring of national reforms, and the enhancement of cross-border mobility through more transferable pension schemes.

The sustainability of pension systems cannot be ensured by targeting a single policy field, but depends on actions in a wide range of inter-dependent policy areas. Pension systems reforms should be embedded in broader sound policies for economic growth and employment. The full implementation of the Lisbon strategy at national and EU level is therefore crucial. While recognising the complexity of the multifaceted strategy needed to ensure pensions sustainability, this UNICE paper concentrates on pension systems reforms.

Chapter 1 seeks to give an image of the magnitude of the challenge that population ageing represents for the pension systems in EU countries over the next decades.
Chapter 2 presents UNICE’s assessment of the national pension reforms already implemented or underway.
Chapter 3 urges policy-makers at national and EU levels to take further actions to ensure the future sustainability of pension systems.

Conclusion:
Reforms are underway in all EU countries but a more comprehensive and deep-rooted approach, acting on several fronts and involving a broad range of actors is needed. There is no single European model of pension system. It is only within the Member States that the appropriate mix of measures can be achieved and the necessary consensus around economically efficient and socially acceptable new solutions can be built. Reforms in the Member States should involve a variety of measures including:

further reforming the parameters of the public pension systems;

increasing the margins available for public pension systems through budgetary consolidation;

encouraging the development of private pensions.

However, the primary responsibility of Member States does not mean there is no EU dimension to pension reforms policy. National reforms should be underpinned and complemented by relevant measures at the EU level in the following ways:

by ensuring coordination of national macro-economic and employment policies;

by taking the necessary measures to complete the internal market in financial services and addressing cross-border mobility issues;

by monitoring the evolution of national pension reforms and some co-ordination of the national strategies for pension reform at EU level.

See full paper

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