Mobility of pensions is a poser for expert panel

Date: 24/10/1996

By Rory Watson

A HIGH-level group advising the European Commission will next month table ideas to make it easier for citizens to transfer supplementary pensions across Union borders when they go to live in another member state.

The obstacles they now face are becoming increasingly evident as governments encourage their citizens to prepare for retirement by taking out supplementary pensions, and a growing number of people are looking for work outside their own country.

“The basic problem is how do you reconcile people's right in the Union to build up a pension and not to lose out when they move to another member state, and yet still avoid meddling in national schemes and introducing excessive harmonisation,” explained one expert.

A series of specific problems were identified earlier this year by Social Affairs Commissioner Pádraig Flynn, but he failed to convince his colleagues in the Commission that EU-wide action was needed to remove this particular barrier to the development of a European labour market.

Instead, the Commission turned the problem over to a small group of experts under the leadership of former European Parliament President Simone Veil. The nine-member panel was originally given a general remit to pinpoint the numerous problems faced by Union citizens, their families and non-EU nationals wanting to live and work in another member state.

To this was added the specific task of examining how obstacles to the transfer of supplementary pension rights were preventing people from taking advantage of the free movement across national frontiers enshrined in the EU treaties.

Problems already identified include the loss of acquired rights, difficulties in making cross-border payments and tax disadvantages.

Possible solutions include bilateral arrangements between different EU members, agreements between social partners and even legislation.

In drawing up its recommendations, the group will be able to make use of an enormous amount of information from the Commission's own departments, individuals, and associations representing the 5 million EU citizens estimated to be living in member states other than their own.

“Social rights are really quite complex. The picture is somewhat clearer with residence rights. The problem now will be in sifting through all this data and coming forward with recommendations and opinions on how the free movement of people can be improved,” admitted one of Veil's collaborators.