The European national pension systems is being one of the most attacked sector by the current austerity policies and reforms brought by the socioeconomic crisis. Many member states have already increased the pension age for their workers and some countries, such as Greece, Spain, France and Britain, are actually working on plans to do so. Nevertheless the European institutions are now asking for a bigger effort: on Wednesday 16th February the European Parliament approved a resolution which calls on members states to significantly raise their national retirement age.

The text, drafted by conservative MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten, points out that life expectancy is growing and that the retirement age should be adjusted accordingly – it is estimated that life expectancy for men will increase from 76 years in 2008 to 84 in 2060 and for women from 82 in 2008 to 89 in 2060, therefore people aged 80 years or over are projected to almost triple from 22 million in 2008 to 61 million in 2060. However, Oomen-Rujten adds that “a fixed European retirement age is impossible because of the huge differences in life expectancy in member states.”

Reactions to the resolution came from different all sides: MEP Françoise Castex argued that “we don't know what it will happen in 10 or 20 years for life expectancy and demography. In some social classes, for instance, there are problems in accessing medical care and for this reason life expectancy is decreasing”, adding then that it is necessarily the economy which should adapt itself to the needs of citizens, granting employed people’s rights.

While most stakeholders agree that there is a need for a reform on this important issue, the political discussion concerns whether it is really necessary to require a ruinous sacrifice from European workers. GUE/NGL MEP Ilda Figueiredo reminded that other means could be used to collect the funding needed to make pensions sustainable in the longer term: “We presented an alternative resolution to this report which demonstrates that it is possible to improve pensions and retirement conditions without increasing the statutory retirement age. This can be done via employment rights, particularly for young people, better wages, and higher taxes on the financial sector and financial transactions.”

With Gianluca Musillo