WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1754/98 by Anita POLLACK to the Commission. Bihari people in Bangladesh
19. 11. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 354/121 Does the Commission not consider that differentials between men and womenís pensions are a breach of Article 119 of the Rome Treaty? Should a paragraph not have been inserted into the law to ensure that from 1 July 1999 all women are guaranteed a non-discriminatory pension scheme? The present situation is that 26 of the 43 Danish pension funds treat women less favourably than men. Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (22 June 1998) Pursuant to Article 119 of the EC Treaty as interpreted by the Court of Justice in the Barber judgment (1) of 17 May 1990 and subsequent connected judgments, all discrimination based on sex must be eliminated as of 17 May 1990 in the field of occupational and supplementary pensions. However, for certain pension schemes, a difference in treatment is still permitted. This applies to capitalisation schemes. In line with the Courtís case law in cases C-152/91 Neath (2) (judgment of 22 December 1993) and C-200/91 Coloroll (3) (judgment of 28 September 1994), in the case of schemes of this kind, what counts in respect of Article 119 of the EC Treaty is the employerís promise to pay a supplementary pension. If the promise has as its objective a defined contribution (as in the case of defined-contribution schemes), what matters, for the purposes of this Article, is that the contributions paid must be identical for men and women. As a result, the ultimate benefits might be different for men and women because of womenís longer life expectancy. This is clearly illustrated in Council Directive 95/97/EC (4), amending Directive 86/378/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in occupational social security schemes (4), whose objective is to incorporate the Courtís case law in the Barber judgment and connected judgments. (1) ECR 1990, p. I-1889. (2) ECR 1993, p. I-6953. (3) ECR 1994, p. I-4389. (4) OJ L 46, 17. 2. 1997. (98/C 354/196) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1754/98 by Anita Pollack (PSE) to the Commission (5 June 1998) Subject: Bihari people in Bangladesh Now that an agreement has been reached in Islamabad to commence rehabilitation of the Bihari refugees from Bangladesh, will the Commission help towards the estimated US$ 250 million cost of constructing the necessary housing and other aspects of their rehabilitation and resettlement? Answer given by Mr Marin on behalf of the Commission (22 June 1998) The Commission welcomed the agreement between the Pakistani and Bangladeshi Prime Ministers during the three-nation economic summit on 15 January 1998 to solve the problem of the 238 000 Bihari refugees. The Commission has also positively acknowledged the commitment of Pakistan to repatriate all the Biharis from Bangladesh, and it is aware of the economic effort that Pakistan has made to achieve this objective. The government of Pakistan appealed to all citizens to contribute to this cause to collect the 227 MECU required for the resettlement of the Biharis. For the time being, the Pakistani government has not called for financial support from international organisations and has not approached the Commission for any financial contribution to support its effort. It should also be noted that the Bangladeshi side has not approached the international community for support. The Commission, through its delegations in Islamabad and Dhaka, closely monitors the situation