EUROPE - The European Commission plans to continue with its "holistic approach" to pensions reform, tackling issues of adequacy, sustainability and safety simultaneously.

László Andor, EU commissioner responsible for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Progress on pension reform, said the Commission was approaching the reform process with particular urgency and had already begun preparations on a White Paper.

Speaking at the Alliance for Liberals and Democrats for Europe public seminar, Andor said: "[On Wednesday], I met with the Commissioners' group on pensions to discuss the responses to the Green Paper consultation, as well as possible policy options on how to update and improve the European framework on pensions.

"There was agreement that we should continue with the holistic approach to pension reforms, simultaneously tackling issues of adequacy, sustainability and safety."

As part of this, he said, the Commission will work with key stakeholders on "possible new regulatory initiatives" for portability of occupational pension schemes and insolvency protection, as well as "other softer forms of regulation", such as codes of good practice.

Andor said the Commission, which is in the final stages of analysing the results of the Green Paper , had just received responses from the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee, and was awaiting the European Parliament to adopt its "final opinion".

"As such, it is still too early to draw any final conclusions," he said. "However, it is clear we need a set of clear messages from the Parliament."

The commissioner said the Green Paper - which resulted in more than 100 meetings and conferences with stakeholders and generated nearly 1,700 responses - had been "broadly welcomed", particularly its holistic approach, and that the Commission had "certainly succeeded" in its aim of starting a debate about pensions.

He also said the process had shed light on issues that had previously been considered "taboo", such as changes to retirement ages or the closure of early exit routes.

"Recently, Spain has reached political agreement on increasing the retirement age to 67," he said. "In Denmark, there have been proposals to abolish early retirement provisions. And in the Netherlands, there have been discussions about increasing pensionable ages."

Andor said developments in member states such as Greece had highlighted the need for urgent action on pensions, adding: "I know this has been difficult - sometimes even very tense - but it is clear we need to take decisive steps to safeguard the future of pension systems."

Topics