WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2082/97 by Cristiana MUSCARDINI to the Commission. Pension reform
10. 2. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 45/153 Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (17 July 1997) 1 - 2. The Commission intends to use all the legal means at its disposal to defend present Community legislation in the context of the World trade organization (WTO) procedures. A decision has been taken to appeal from the Panelís report. Until there is a definitive ruling on this matter under the WTO dispute settlement process, it is not possible to indicate what course of action might be open to the Community. The position that the Commission has defended in the WTO proceedings is that the Communityís right to decide what level of sanitary protection it deems appropriate for its citizens should be fully recognized by the Sanitary and phytosanitary agreement. 3. The Commission has recently received the request of the Honourable Member and will speedily reply to it. (98/C 45/201) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2082/97 by Cristiana Muscardini (NI) to the Commission (19 June 1997) Subject: Pension reform The European Charter of Pensionersí Rights forcefully asserts a number of principles concerning retired workers, particularly in Articles 5 and 8 thereof. Would the Commission state: 1. 2. its views on these principles and their implementation? whether practical proposals should be drawn up? whether it agrees that a Peopleís Europe must not focus exclusively on strictly monetary matters, but must 3. also provide appropriate responses to issues of this kind? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (22 July 1997) 1. The Commission supports the principles set out in the European Charter of Pensioners’ Rights. However, the responsibility for implementing those principles lies with the Member States, each of which retains control over the organisation and funding of its pension system, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity. 2. On 12 March 1997 the Commission published a Communication to the Council and European Parliament entitled Modernising and improving social protection in the European Unioní (1), in which it analyses, among other matters, the question of the future of pension systems in view of the demographic ageing of European societies. In particular, it sets out possible approaches geared to making public pension schemes sustainable, providing a secure environment for supplementary pension schemes and meeting care needs for older people. The Commission invites the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee, the Employment and Labour Market Committee, and the Economic Policy Committee to give their opinions on the ideas for the modernisation of social protection systems presented in the Communication. 3. The Commission is determined to promote the establishing of a European social model based on common values and on the conviction that social policy and economic results are not conflicting interests, but consolidate each other. Highly-developed social protection systems are a major component of this model. However, to preserve social protection, it is necessary to reform the European systems in their various guises, as the conditions in which those systems evolved have changed. The aim is to adapt social protection to today’s society, without divesting it of its fundamental values of solidarity and cohesion. This is a complex task, and there is no definitive way to perform it. Each Member State must find solutions tailored to its own system, whilst persevering with the convergence strategy set out in the Council Recommendation of 27 July 1992 (92/442/EEC) (2). (1) COM(97) 102. (2) OJ L 245, 26. 8. 1992