AGE response to Green Paper on Pensions

AGE response to the consultation on Green Paper towards adequate, sustainable and safe European pension systemsAGE reponse to is available here.

For more information, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Last Updated on Friday, 12 November 2010 13:52

Can housing equity be an answer to Europe's pension crisis?

AGE Platform Europe would like to invite you to the workshop on “Can housing equity be an answer to Europe's pension crisis?” which will take place on 27 October in the BERLAYMONT Building in Brussels (the room number will be confirmed soon).

The workshop comes out of a EU-funded project, DEMHOW (Demographic change and housing wealth). The project  is intended to explore some of the policy issues around using  wealth held in the form of home ownership to make a contribution to the income needs of older  Europeans.  It thus fits firmly within the sphere of interest of the European Union’s current Green Paper: toward adequate, sustainable and safe European pension systems, and it is intended that the workshop will feed into the consultation process.  The draft agenda (see attached file) indicates that the workshop will include a mixture of presentation of research findings from the DEMHOW  project, panel discussion with people involved in policy making, and contributions from other participants. 

Please click here to read the Agenda.

In order to register, please send an e-mail to Alice Sinigaglia, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  

Please note that the registrations will close on Thursday 13 October.

 

Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 October 2010 15:02

EAPN launches publication on ‘Adequacy of Minimum Income in the EU’

The European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN) has just issued a publication explaining what is meant with ‘minimum income’ and why it is important to ensure adequate minimum income for all. It also includes some examples of national initiatives with critical comments.

AGE contributed in a chapter on the importance of adequate pensions in old age (p.35)

The publication will be presented at the European Conference on Minimum Income and Social Standards on 24 September, which will seek to achieve a consensus on ensuring an adequate minimum income for all.

The publication can be downloaded on EAPN website:

http://www.eapn.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1824%3Aadequacy-of-minimum-income-in-the-eu&catid=40%3Aeapn-books&Itemid=84&lang=en

For more info on the EU Conference: http://www.eutrio.be/european-conference-minimum-income-and-social-standards

Or contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Feedback from Belgian Presidency's conference on adequacy of pensions, 7-8 September

Brief feedback from the conference the Belgian Presidency held this week on adequacy of pensions with direct reference to the Commission’s  Green Paper on pensions

 

AGE contributed to the event with Anne-Sophie’s participation in the panel discussion on the European coordination in the field of pensions (alongside with representatives of the social partners).

Please see the press release we issued after the conference: http://www.age-platform.eu/en/age-a-the-media/age-communication-to-the-media-press-releases/1100-belgian-presidency-conference-on-pensions-keep-in-mind-the-impact-of-pension-on-atypical-and-very-old-pensions

• General remarks

Anne-Sophie insisted on  the need to address adequacy of old-age income from a broader perspective by looking beyond the monetary aspects i.e. in order to meet the whole spectrum of needs older people may have when ageing with regard to access to healthcare, decent housing, social participation etc. The above approach should guide Member States in designing of both contributory pensions (ensuring decent life after retirement) and social assistance benefits (necessary to protect the most vulnerable older people). Equally important, AGE pointed that income adequacy for older people has to be seen in longer time perspective, guaranteeing decent lives alongside successive stages after retirement i.e. responding to the evolution in people’s needs when ageing.

Several speakers representing both national governments and research centres in social protection shared AGE position.

The issue of employment among older workers caught lots of attention in the official presentations and discussions that followed. The Commission insisted on the need to seek a balance between time spent in employment and retirement. Automatic adjustments to increase the pensionable age in line with gains in life expectancy were mentioned as possible solution.

Mobility of workers in the internal market and removing remaining barriers in this respect were also discussed. However, Member States seemed not ready to move forward on the issue of transferability of supplementary pension rights, keeping this aspect out of the revised draft directive on supplementary pension rights from 2007.

In concluding remarks, the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Laszlo Andor, stated that adequate social protection systems should contain measures both preventing poverty in old age and ensuring adequate replacement rates for pensions. He also mentioned access to healthcare as integral and equal part of social protection and called for further efforts at national to improve it.

On behalf of the Belgian, Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian Minister of Social Affairs, called for an ambitious European strategy for the next decade to promote with equal engagement the following objective: job creation, economic growth and social and environmental fields. In respect to the latter two objectives, the Minister insisted on the use of the guideline n°10 (part of the integrated guidelines to implement the EU 2020 Strategy). This guideline 10 describes the directions in which the Member States must take their social policies. Therefore, this affirms the need for strong social protection systems in employment, health and pensions.

• Green Paper on Adequate and Sustainable pension Systems

The discussions during the conference were directly linked to the Commission’s Green Paper on pensions (GP). The Commission explained that this open consultation is intended to collect views and opinions from all relevant stakeholders including civil society organisations. This is for the first time ever that the Commission launches such an open debate on all diverse aspects relating to both statutory and supplementary, public and funded pension systems. The intention is to have a common reflection on how best pursuit pension reforms in the context of the crisis and the inevitable pressure on public finances.

For more information, please contact Maciej Kucharczyk, Policy Officer for social inclusion and social protection at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

 

Last Updated on Thursday, 16 September 2010 11:14