Activities of Marije CORNELISSEN related to 2010/2239(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION Final opinion on the Green Paper "Towards adequate, sustainable and safe European pension systems
Amendments (49)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 a (new)
Citation 9 a (new)
- having regard to the Commission proposal for a Council directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation (COM(2008)0426) and Parliament's position thereon,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 b (new)
Citation 9 b (new)
- having regard to Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation,
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas pension system actuarial calculations are based on salary and work period and whereas there is a significant disadvantage in the retirement amount received due to work interruptions and often involuntary part-time work on one side and the gender pay gap,; whereas this leads to repercussions on their lifetime earnings, social security protection and pensions, resulting in higher at-risk-of- poverty rates, especially once in retirement;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. reminding Member States that it is their duty to find solutions which ensure that pension systems deliver adequate incomes in old age in such a way as to guarantee everyone a decent life,
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the pauperisation concerns more often retired people than workers and more often women than men, and whereas the elderly women are the most vulnerable group at risk of poverty, whereas in 2007, the at-risk-of-poverty rate was higher for women (17%) than men (15 %) and this gap was especially high for older persons (22% for women compared to 17% for men) and single parents (34 %);
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. Whereas older women are in a particularly precarious position when their right to a pension income is derived from their marital status (spousal or survivor benefits) and when they do not have adequate pension rights of their own due to career breaks;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas equality in male and female pensions, including as regards the retirement age, has been set as a goal and whereas there is a pension gap between women and men as a continuation and consequence of the persisting gender pay gap, which is still about 17%currently 18% on average in the EU and up to 30.3% in some Member States,
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the sustainability of pension systems in individual Member States is a matter of concern for the EU as a whole, since both old-age poverty and future public finance constraints affect the entire EU; whereas pension funds under the second and third pillars (occupational and private schemes) are invested across borders, and whereas pension funds are acquiring a greater influence over financial markets,
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas the trend towards supplementary pensions constitutes a risk for people with temporary or part-time contracts who do not build up sufficient pension rights; whereas the EU should play a leading role in preventing age discrimination on the labour market and defending the pension rights of workers with atypical contracts or who have had breaks in their careers,
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Is of the view that pension systems should be based on adequate and sustainable criteria and take into consideration the periods when women do not work o; calls on the Member States to ensure that pension systems take into account the situation of women and men who interrupt their care under part-time coners due to caring obligations, and to avoid creating new dependency tractps;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Considers that the period spent by women and men on taking care of children or other dependent family and non-family members should be recognised in the calculation systems and taken into account to the period of work as well as all kind of contracts;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Points out that women’s own income and paid employment remains key to their economic autonomy and to greater equality between women and men in society as a whole, calls on the EU Member States to individualise social security rights including pension rights;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Calls on the Commission and Member States to pay special attention to migrant women who often have not acquired pension rights in their country of origin and therefore lack economic independence, especially in case they divorce;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Calls on the Member States to guarantee pension entitlements enabling especially elderly women to live an economically independent life after divorce;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that Member States face enormous challenges in ensuring that pensions meet citizens‘’ expectations and are universal, adequate and sustainable;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Observes that sound economic and social policies make an important contribution to growth and stabilitysustainable development;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Urges the Commission and the Member States to obligate occupational and other supplementary pension providers to use gender-neutral mortality tables when calculating pension benefits so as to prevent women from being punished for their higher life expectancy with lower replacement rates than men;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission and the EU Member States to carry out comprehensive impact assessments on all social security reforms, especially pension systems which may have a negative impact on women's employment and pensions rights, such as cuts in daycare and eldercare facilities, pension policies etc.;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that occupational and private pension schemes are not discriminatory against women and that they do not reinforce existing patterns that already put women at a disadvantage in terms of benefits and contributions; calls on the Commission to investigate possible discriminatory effects for women of Article 5 of Directive 2004/113/EC;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that pensions and pension systems are a primary responsibility of the Member States; stresses the EU’s role in accompanying economic governance with sound social policies and in promoting social justice and combating poverty; stresses that demographic change is affecting all EU Member States and that the EU has a special role to play in the cross-border mobility of pensions, as the free movement of workers is a core element of EU policy;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses the importance of first-pillar pensions and the need to maintain their adequacy and universal access to them; points out that solidarity-based first-pillar pension schemes are of the utmost importance, especially for the most vulnerable members of society, such as those outside the labour market; calls on Member States to ensure that first-pillar pensions are above the poverty line;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Regrets that the Green Paper does not devote any attention to the gender issue, particularly bearing in mind that, because of disparities in careers, women have smaller pensions on average;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on Member States and the Commission to consider new approaches to social security, based on a life-course approach; stresses the positive experiences of Member States which are shifting towards such an approach with regard to the sustainability of pensions and poverty prevention; points out that a life-course approach also provides answers to the problem of sound and adequate pensions, as it is not solely based on the number of years worked continuously, but considers working biographies as a whole, integrating changes and interruptions;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses the importance of individualising pension entitlements within a system that makes for a strong measure of solidarity in such a way as to guarantee the economic independence of men andand a life in dignity for men and women and to combat the prevailing high risk of poverty for older women;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Does not consider it possible to set an adequate pension at European level, because the amount required is very dependent on specific circumstances in the Member States; stresses, however, that the EU should define what constitutes adequate and universal pensions, so as to establish joint standards and support a life in dignity for pensioners;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the Council to present a recommendation on adequate pensions;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Calls on the Social Protection Committee and the Economic Policy Committee to develop new indicators to monitor the impact of pension reforms on vulnerable groups, using new profiles which better reflect gender and career differences;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses that, within the diversity of pension systems, the general systems (first pillar) combined with work-relatedoccupational systems (second pillar) afford the best guarantee of adequate pension provision;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Stresses that first-pillar pensions must at least reach the poverty threshold, as the most vulnerable often do not have the means to contribute to second- and third-pillar pension schemes;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses that the sustainability and adequacy of pension systems are certainly alsoin some Member States are affected by the third pillar, namely individual savings, facilitated or otherwise; stresses, however, that this option is available only to persons who have an adequate income which would enable them to contribute to such systems;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses that inflation and the instability of financial markets damages the sustainability and adequacy of pension systems, especially under the second and third pillars (occupational and private schemes);
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Considers that, in view of demographic trends and the need to ensure that pensions can be paid for, it is necessary for more people toto give older people the choice of participateing or not in the labour market and to do so for longerof adapting their time spent in work and in retirement to individual capabilities and life paths; observes that life expectancy is growing and; calls on Member States to consider linking thefor an evaluation of the necessity for a statutory retirement age to life expectancy;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Stresses the urgent need to create working conditions that enable older workers who so choose to remain on the labour market; stresses that, given the low percentage of older workers on the labour market, age discrimination must be combated; calls on the Commission, on the basis of its anti-discrimination work, and on the Member States to develop instruments so that working conditions are adapted to the needs of older workers; points to the importance of measures such as the right to flexible working times for older workers, the right to training and the right to a flexible exit into retirement without loss of entitlements;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that there are major disparities in the statutory retirementpensionable age and in the actual age at which older people cease to be employed; calls on Member States and the two sides of industrysocial partners, therefore, to exchange information about good experiences and to conclude agreements leading to a prolongation of working life, for example by rewardwhich have a positive impact on sustainable pensions; stresses, in this context, the need to implement the EU's anti-discrimination directives so as to combat direct and indirect age discrimination on the labour market; calls on Member States to combinge people who work for longernalties for labour market discrimination with incentives for employers to create an inclusive labour market;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Considers that, for older employees performing physically and/or mentally demanding work, a dynamic labour market geared to flexibility and security must offer creative solutions such as greater flexibility in the statutory retirement age, part-time pensions or adapted working conditions, with the emphasis on ability to work, to strike a lasting balance between the requirements of employment and the capacities of workers; considers there to be a need for an active policy to prevent discrimination on grounds of age;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Considers that any change in state pensionable age must allow sufficient time for individuals to prepare for the new situation;
Amendment 297 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Considers that, if the 2020 Strategy is successful, this will mean that more people are in quality work and that economic growth will benefit from this, thus enhancing both the sustainability and the adequacy of pension systems;
Amendment 302 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Supports, in accordance with the 2020 Strategy, a targeted and active labour market policy which will lead to increased participation in employment on the part of older workers, women, members of minority groups and the long-term unemployedthose currently under-represented in the labour market, particularly the most vulnerable; considers that the EU should develop new indicators to monitor the impact of pension reform on vulnerable groups;
Amendment 313 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Considers that the investment role of pension funds in assisting the move to a sustainable, low-carbon and socially inclusive society envisaged in the 2020 strategy should be taken into account;
Amendment 324 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Stresses the growing importance of labour-market mobility in the EU, as well as the need for such mobility; considers, therefore, that if the European Union and the Member States have a strong interest in increasing workers’ mobility, obstacles to internal and cross-border mobility must be removed and issues such as lack of transferability, long vesting periods, preservation of dormant rights, non- regression and differences in tax treatment and actuarial principles must be addressed;
Amendment 333 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Considers that, given the shift to funded schemes which is already taking place, Article 5(2) of Directive 2004/113/EC should be amended to ban differences in treatment on the basis of gender in funded occupational pension schemes to avoid widening the gender income gap;
Amendment 339 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22b. Notes that EU regulation should not only coordinate arrangements governing the pension rights of mobile workers, but also monitor and supervise the overall performance of national pension systems, in order to protect the pension rights of mobile workers and ensure that they have access to reliable data which enables them to make an informed decision before moving cross-border;
Amendment 364 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Considers that, because of the diversity and complexity of the various second-pillar systems, conditions need to be laid down concerning the portability of acquired pension entitlements in the sense that portability begins when new contracts are concluded, but that every effort should be made to include existing contracts where possible; an application for transfer being approved only if the actuarial sum transferred is to be placed in a fund whose purpose is payment of old-age pensions; considers that tax must be calculated and paid in the Member State where the entitlements have been accumulated;
Amendment 384 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Considers that the second pillar must be available to all employeeworkers by right, without any discrimination on grounds of age, sex, sector and/or employment contract;
Amendment 410 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Calls on the Member States to support the development of a social and civic dialogue in the field of old-age pension provision;
Amendment 447 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Considers that, when pension provision is reformed, or when there is a changeover from a promised pension to a promised pension arrangement, or from a final salary to a mean salary system, or any other significant change, the public must be promptly and fully informed of the consequences; and the persons concerned directly informed where necessary; stresses that providing information to individuals is not enough and that they should be protected against insolvency risks regardless of the scheme they are involved in;
Amendment 452 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
34a. Calls for individuals to have the right to information concerning the countries, sectors and products in which pension funds invest their assets;
Amendment 462 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
35a. Is concerned at the trend towards individual contribution schemes; points out that providing information about risks is not enough, and calls on the Commission and the Member States actively to reduce risks for individuals;