mr president i welcome this report
hopefully it will put the issue of pensions centre stage in eu matters
i think the core issue is how are member states going to finance adequate pensions for their citizens
what systems will they put in place using some combination of the three pillars to ensure that their pension systems are sustainable
there is a yawning gap between current pension provision and what will be needed to provide pensions at current levels for the next forty years
indeed an estimate from a major insurance company states that the gap between what we are currently providing both public and private and what will be needed to ensure that pension provision remains at the same level in forty years time for the eu twenty-seven is eur one point nine trillion per year
that is a staggering figure and while measures such as perhaps longer working lives or other initiatives will help to bridge that gap there is still an enormous fiscal black hole
i hope that this debate and the subsequent white paper from the commission will ensure that we begin to deal with this matter in a realistic way
