Artikel

Convergentie van de pensioenstelsels in de E.G.

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Abstract

Convergence of pension schemes in the EC - Pensions are an important element in elderly people’s budgets. Each EC member state provides a pension scheme that ensures people of a certain age of a relatively large benefit. Huge differences between these systems, both in form and in content, are a serious obstacle, however, to the idea of harmonizing the schemes, if need be. Convergence is now the key word. It broadly means that a certain number of common goals are set in each member state in order to confront future problems - mainly financing problems - in a cooperative way. The answers to these challenges, however, are manifold, which explains why member states have chosen different paths in the past, so pension schemes and benefit levels have diverged rather than converged. In order to encourage the convergence of levels of social security, the Commission first proposed a convergence strategy for the social security policies of member states, which was followed in 1991 by a proposal for a Council Recommendation on the convergence of social security objectives and policies. Although the juridical power of any Recommendation is limited, this could mean a new stimulus to a (more) social Europe.

How to Cite:

Verhue, M., (1993) “Convergentie van de pensioenstelsels in de E.G.”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 38(1), 36–60. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95128