World Bank report on Pension Reforms

10 May 2003




The World Bank published a report on “Pension Reform in Europe: Progress and Process” calling for urgent reform of the pension scheme systems of many EU Member States. The report provides an overview of the progress and process of pension reform in Europe and possible paths to be undertaken by Member States to overcome the crisis.

According the report, the need for pension reform in the European Union and European Union Accession countries arises from three factors:

  • the current high expenditure level and related budgetary pressure
  • the inadequate ongoing socio-economic changes
  • current retirement provisions do not support the needed labor mobility.

    “Pension reform gets more attention in countries throughout Western, Central and Eastern Europe than any other topic on the economic reform agenda, but in no area of European policy has progress been more uneven”, said Robert Holzmann, Director of the World Bank's Social Protection unit.

    The World Bank criticises the way in which pension reforms are being tackled by Member States. The future EU states could be right to adopt more radical reforms. “The trend we see towards paradigmatic pension reform in European Union Accession countries instead of those in European Union countries may be well explained by the former countries' need to reap the benefits of a modern, diversified, partially funded pension system relatively quickly”, says Michal Rutkowski, co-author of the new report.

    Full report

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