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Διαδικασία : 2014/0091(COD)
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Διαδρομή του εγγράφου : A8-0011/2016

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PV 23/11/2016 - 17
CRE 23/11/2016 - 17

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Τετάρτη 23 Νοεμβρίου 2016 - Στρασβούργο Αναθεωρημένη έκδοση

17. Δραστηριότητες και εποπτεία των ιδρυμάτων που προσφέρουν υπηρεσίες επαγγελματικών συνταξιοδοτικών παροχών (συζήτηση)
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  Preşedintele. – Următorul punct de pe ordinea de zi este dezbaterea privind raportul lui Brian Hayes, în numele Comisiei pentru afaceri economice și monetare, referitor la propunerea de directivă a Parlamentului European și a Consiliului privind activitățile și supravegherea instituțiilor pentru furnizarea de pensii ocupaționale (reformare) (COM(2014)0167 - C7-0112/2014 - 2014/0091(COD)) (A8-0011/2016).

 
  
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  Brian Hayes, rapporteur. – Mr President, I am glad we are having this debate on this important piece of legislation here in plenary this evening. It is the outcome of an important and positive negotiation, for which I want to thank everyone in this Chamber.

In June of this year, we reached agreement with the Dutch Council Presidency: I believe this is a good outcome for European pensioners, and we have brought more protection, more transparency and more security to the way that occupational funds are managed across Europe. I believe we have achieved the right balance between respecting differences between Member States’ individual pension schemes and encouraging pension mobility within the European Union.

Although this is a minimum harmonisation directive, it is also an extremely sensitive piece of legislation in that we are dealing with other people’s money here. We are dealing with people who have saved money, who have put that money aside, and we must always respect that. This has been a guiding principle that I had in the course of the negotiations.

I want to highlight the excellent working partnership in Parliament’s negotiating team, and that applies to all my colleagues and all the political Groups. I was proud of the fact that we received a very broad majority in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. I want to thank my colleagues, here this evening, who worked with me as their rapporteur and I also want to thank the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality for their work in terms of the opinions they gave on the proposal. I especially want to thank the secretariat of the Economic and Affairs Committee for the excellent work they did and the expertise they brought to this issue.

Ultimately, I believe Parliament’s position was upheld very strongly in the negotiations, and I want to highlight some of our achievements. On funding provisions, we managed to ensure that under-funding can occur when doing cross-border business. Currently under-funding is not permitted for cross-border activity, and this has caused a great deal of uncertainty for cross-border pension business. We brought clarity to this area, and we have ensured that appropriate action should be taken by regulators to correct the situation.

On cross-border transfers we have ensured that when a pension scheme is being transferred to another Member State there is just one single authorisation from the regulator of the host Member State along with prior consent from the home Member State regulator. Both regulators must assess a limited list of criteria when approving transfers. The transfer must also be approved by members and beneficiaries of the scheme – a crucial issue. These procedures have never been set out before in EU legislation, so we have made advances here.

On the pension benefit statement, this annual statement to members and beneficiaries on their pension rights has been turned from a very prescriptive and fully harmonised statement into a principles-based approach, and therefore we have more flexibility in terms of using Parliament’s proposed structure. We have also ensured that members and beneficiaries receive, at the very least, the key information on their contributions, the costs, the guarantees and the projections within their scheme.

We have ensured that the depository function remains as a Member State option, so as to take into account the variety of pension systems and the way in which depository activities can be conducted.

On environmental, social and government (ESG) risks for occupational pension funds: under this directive, we now have to assess these risks when making investment decisions. This idea follows the work of the United Nations. This is the first financial services directive in which such a requirement has been incorporated. It was a crucial issue for many members of Parliament’s negotiating team, and we have achieved that.

On intergenerational balance, it has been recognised in the text that there should be intergenerational solidarity between younger and older members of a pension scheme, so that younger generations should not be disproportionately burdened if there are losses in the scheme.

I am optimistic that this directive can pave the way for a stronger internal market for pensions across the European Union, but I also feel that it can kick-start a real debate on pensions in the EU – a debate that is much needed here. Lastly, can I make this remark: I hope that we will recast the debate on pensions, which is necessary in a situation where so many people who are currently working across the 28 EU Member States lack pension cover for the future. That is an issue that we need to address in a creative and constructive way.

 
  
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  President. – Sometimes there has to be a trade-off between keeping strictly to the time and communicating practically. This time I chose communication.

 
  
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  Jyrki Katainen, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, I shall try not to take more than the three minutes that have been allocated to me.

I welcome the importance that this Parliament attaches to the revision of the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision Directive (IORPs). Your agreement will be an important step towards modernising the EU framework for occupational pension funds.

The Directive accommodates diversity in the EU pensions landscape with principles-based rules under a minimum harmonisation approach, which gives Member States maximum flexibility in implementation in national systems. The IORP2 directive brings improvements to governance provisions on cross-border activities and transfers, provisions on transparency to members, an increased freedom of investment of IORPs over the long term contributing to these EMU objectives.

Let me briefly present these improvements. The financial crisis has reinforced the need for sound governance of financial institutions and clear information to members and beneficiaries. Failure of governance of certain funds in the EU meant in some cases a cut in members’ and beneficiaries’ rights. In the new IORP2 directive, occupational pension funds and their members and beneficiaries will benefit from pension funds governed by experienced persons who carry out their duties in an objective, fair and independent way.

The directive will make it easier for pension funds to conduct cross-border business, creating new opportunities for companies and their workforce. By making use of these possibilities, innovative companies ranging from SMEs to multinationals will be able to reduce costs through economies of scale, risk diversifications and innovations.

The directive will improve the information provided to individuals about their pension savings. As a result, individuals will know more about their pensions. They will receive updates about their pensions regularly and will be able to make more informed choices about where they put their money. The directive will ensure that clear information is provided to pension scheme members and beneficiaries. The directive will stimulate the capacity of IORPs to invest in financial assets with a long-term economic profile and thereby support the financing of growth in the real economy.

The new rules will also make it easier for pension funds to invest in long-term assets, strengthening the role they can play in the capital markets union. Finally, the new directive will also encourage responsible investments. As a result of the agreement, pension funds will have to consider the risk of environmental, social and governance risks in their investment decisions and documents. This entails a three-yearly statement of investment policy principles. I would like to thank this House once again and look forward to a productive debate.

 
  
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  Jeroen Lenaers, Rapporteur voor advies van de Commissie werkgelegenheid en sociale zaken. – Allereerst dank aan Brian Hayes voor de prettige samenwerking tussen onze commissies op dit dossier en felicitaties voor het behaalde resultaat. Drie punten waren leidend in de beraadslaging in onze commissie over dit onderwerp. Allereerst, pensioenfondsen dienen een sociaal doel en moeten ook als zodanig behandeld worden. Nummer twee, Europese eenheidsworst op het gebied van pensioenen gaat niet werken. Daarvoor zijn de verschillen tussen de lidstaten te groot en is het pensioenlandschap in Europa te verschillend. Drie, wij moeten er vanuit Europa voor zorgen dat we die landen waar nog geen IBPV’s bestaan stimuleren om dergelijke systemen te ontwikkelen en niet het tegendeel. Al deze drie punten zijn dankzij het goede werk van de Raad en het Parlement in deze richtlijn terechtgekomen. We hebben een goede balans gevonden tussen enerzijds de noodzaak om goede Europese normen te hebben op het gebied van bestuur, toezicht en transparantie, terwijl we tegelijkertijd ervoor zorgen dat lidstaten de flexibiliteit hebben om deze normen aan hun eigen specifieke context aan te passen. En dat is zeker gezien het originele voorstel een niet te onderschatten resultaat.

 
  
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  Sirpa Pietikäinen, rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality. – Mr President, for active and healthy ageing, it is necessary to have sustainable levels of pensions. This is not always the case in Europe, and we have new threats like the economic landscape, carbon bubbles, resource efficiency and other factors. This is a crucial issue where I see that we have taken the first step to ensuring and guaranteeing adequate pensions for all Europeans.

In the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) we duly hope that the Commission will soon be ready to take the next steps which are needed. This means taking into account the different earning patterns of women and men. If a woman’s salary is roughly 70% to 80% of a man’s, the woman’s pension euro is worth only about 60 cents because salaries are lower and working periods are shorter. If we do not compensate this in our pension calculation structures, this is going to be an unsustainable risk in the future.

 
  
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  Burkhard Balz, im Namen der PPE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Wir alle wissen, die Altersvorsorgesysteme in Europa sind auf die Probe gestellt.

Die größten Herausforderungen rühren aus der demografischen Entwicklung in Europa. Große Herausforderungen rühren natürlich auch aus den limitierten öffentlichen Mitteln, die den Mitgliedstaaten zur Verfügung stehen. Darüber hinaus kommen Herausforderungen aus der anhaltenden Niedrigzinsphase hinzu, die Ansparungen für die Zukunft noch schwieriger machen.

Diesen Herausforderungen müssen wir uns stellen. Denn klar ist: Das System der staatlichen Altersvorsorge benötigt eine effektive Ergänzung, und zwar sowohl durch die Stärkung der betrieblichen als auch durch die Stärkung der privaten Altersvorsorge. Hier kann die Europäische Union liefern, und sie hat geliefert. Unsere Fraktion begrüßt die Überarbeitung der Richtlinie zur betrieblichen Altersvorsorge, die unter Federführung unseres EVP-Berichterstatters, Brian Hayes, ausverhandelt wurde.

Die Richtlinie bekräftigt, dass die Möglichkeiten zur betrieblichen Altersvorsorge in den Mitgliedstaaten stärker gefördert und besser gesichert werden müssen. Um dies zu erreichen, müssen die Besonderheiten der unterschiedlichen Arten betrieblicher Altersvorsorge anerkannt werden. Das ist uns gelungen. Die Einrichtungen der betrieblichen Altersvorsorge verfügen über besondere, effektive Sicherungsmechanismen. Sie sind eng mit den Arbeitgebern verknüpft. Das ist eine Tatsache, die sich auch auf die Bewertung von Risiken in den Einrichtungen auswirken muss.

Die Gesetzgeber haben sich für eine umfassende Absicherung der Risiken, aber bewusst gegen eine Einführung einer Solvenzbilanz entschieden. Es war uns wichtig, dass die betriebliche Altersvorsorge in der Breite gestärkt wird. Kleinere und mittelgroße Einrichtungen sollen die Chance haben, trotz der anspruchsvollen europaweiten Regeln ihr Angebot weiter aufrechtzuerhalten.

Von der neuen Richtlinie wird die betriebliche Altersvorsorge profitieren. Von der neuen Richtlinie werden die Pensionäre profitieren, die künftig bessere, einheitliche und reguläre Informationen über ihre Ansprüche erhalten werden. Es ist am Ende ein sehr gutes Ergebnis für die europäische Finanzmarkt-, aber auch Sozialpolitik.

 
  
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  Paul Tang, namens de S&D-Fractie. – Graag een hartelijk welkom aan de lezers en kijkers van Geen Stijl. Europa en pensioenen. Ja, jullie schrikken, ik weet het, maar tot tien tellen, blijven ademhalen, niet schuimbekken. Dat kan altijd nog. Nederland, België, Zweden, Frankrijk, Duitsland: verschillende landen met verschillende pensioenstelsels en dat blijft zo. De Europese richtlijn stelt minimumvoorwaarden waaraan Nederland in de meeste gevallen ruimschoots voldoet en in sommige gevallen niet. Zo krijgen deelnemers betere uitleg over de gevolgen van het beleggingsbeleid door hun pensioenfonds voor milieu en samenleving. Zo krijgen deelnemers een betere bescherming als hun pensioenfonds wil verhuizen naar een ander land, een driedubbel slot. Meer informatie en betere bescherming. Dat is het resultaat en dat resultaat overtuigt ook de CDA-fractie in het Europees Parlement maar niet hun partijgenoot Pieter Omzigt, die niet tot 10 wist te tellen. Dus betere informatie, een betere bescherming, terwijl jullie dachten dat wij alleen aan ons eigen pensioen denken.

 
  
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  Ashley Fox, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, my Group welcomes the text agreed with the Council in trialogue. The UK has already introduced automatic enrolment schemes, so all employees enjoy workplace pensions with contributions from their employers. I therefore hope that this legislation will encourage the provision of work- based pensions across the whole of the EU.

This report makes substantial improvements to the Commission’s original proposal. It is a less prescriptive text that recognises pensions as a Member State competence, focuses more on the provisions for cross-border IORPs, and deletes the delegated acts originally proposed by the Commission.

Employees will now receive a tailored annual pension benefit statement and will be consulted if there are decisions which affect their pension payouts. I am happy that there are no harmonised EU solvency requirements. I support the more lenient funding regime, which was included, rather than the fully funded model. Allowing for periods of under-funding is important to reflect instances such as mergers, which would prevent funds from being fully funded at all times.

I am pleased the legislation is now more proportionate and that IORPs with less than 100 members will have reduced compliance commitments. Finally, my group is happy to see that if a Member State has equivalent protection in place then the requirement to appoint a depository for defined contribution schemes would not be necessary.

We are pleased with this report and we thank Mr Hayes for his excellent work.

 
  
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  Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, namens de ALDE-Fractie. – Voorzitter, het is hier vanavond een soort Nederlands feestje. En dat zie je aan de grote hoeveelheid Nederlandse sprekers. In Nederland zit, als het P-woord valt, pensioen, iedereen eigenlijk meteen rechtop en dan wordt er met argusogen gekeken naar “Wat heeft Brussel daarmee te maken? Wat gaan ze in Europa doen met onze pensioenen?”. Ik ben blij met dit eindresultaat, daar wil ik ook complimenten voor geven aan de rapporteur Brian Hayes en alle andere onderhandelaars die eveneens in de trialogen actief zijn geweest. Want ik denk dat we hier heel erg tevreden mee kunnen zijn. Het is een voorstel dat gericht is op minimumharmonisatie, vooral op het gebied van governance en transparantie. En daarmee blijft er voor alle lidstaten voldoende vrijheid bestaan om een eigen beleid te voeren, bijvoorbeeld op het gebied van bescherming van deelnemers en pensioengerechtigden. Want het is natuurlijk - dat werd ook al door de rapporteur gezegd - een gevoelig onderwerp, aangezien het gaat over het geld van andere mensen, waar andere mensen zelf voor gespaard hebben. We moeten daar dus heel zorgvuldig mee omgaan. Er zijn geen nieuwe bevoegdheden gedelegeerd aan de Commissie of de Europese pensioentoezichthouder Eiopa en de nationale pensioenfondsen blijven gewoon onder nationaal toezicht vallen, in Nederland van de Nederlandsche Bank. En ook zijn de vereisten op het gebied van informatievoorziening en governance niet meer zo gedetailleerd als in het eerste voorstel. Want natuurlijk is het belangrijk dat deelnemers en pensioengerechtigden goed worden geïnformeerd over hun rechten en verplichtingen, maar met welke kleur papier, inkt en lettertype dat nou precies moet, dat kunnen ze natuurlijk heel goed zelf bepalen. Een focus op de principes in plaats van op de pietluttige regeltjes. Dus geen doorgeslagen betutteling, dat is er gelukkig uitgehaald. En tot slot, Voorzitter, vind ik het ook belangrijk dat hierin voldoende aandacht is geschonken aan de verdeling van de voordelen en de risico's tussen de generaties onderling en dit is natuurlijk erg belangrijk om het pensioensysteem ook in de toekomst betaalbaar te houden.

 
  
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  Miguel Urbán Crespo, en nombre del Grupo GUE/NGL. – Señor Presidente, Señorías, como hemos planteado desde el principio, ante un mercado de trabajo muy internacionalizado, con gran movilidad de los trabajadores dentro de Europa y también fuera de ella, compartimos el objetivo de garantizar los derechos sociales, asegurando su movilidad para los trabajadores que se desplazan.

También nos parece bien mejorar la transparencia y facilitar la información clara a los trabajadores para que conozcan sus derechos y puedan defenderlos. Sin embargo, nos preocupa que se promueva el segundo pilar de pensiones como el modelo deseable del sistema de pensiones, porque nosotros apostamos justamente por un sistema 100 % público, donde la pensión vitalicia sea la norma y donde no se juegue al casino con los ahorros de la gente.

Por ello, nos preocupa que se utilice esto como una oportunidad para alimentar inversiones especulativas y peligrosas. Nos tememos que la lógica de la refundición sea la de favorecer la movilización de capitales para grandes infraestructuras, en el mismo espíritu que el plan Juncker. También lamentamos que el ponente se haya negado a exigir las garantías de solvencias para este tipo de fondos. No entendemos que se quieran reducir las exigencias justamente en algo tan vital como las pensiones. También lamentamos que los fondos de pensiones puedan servir para mercantilizar servicios públicos y de bienes comunes. En este sentido, nos preocupa el énfasis que se pone en la inversión en grandes infraestructuras, que suele contribuir a la privatización de lo público, como puertos u otras estructuras de energía.

Señorías, las pensiones son un derecho, no algo con lo que especular. No podemos jugar al casino con los derechos de la gente.

 
  
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  Bas Eickhout, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr. President, indeed I am another Dutchman speaking on pensions. This is unavoidable on this topic because indeed in the Netherlands as soon as you talk about pensions and Europe, it is great fun, and that is even an understatement. I would like to thank the rapporteur, Brian Hayes – by the way, in Ireland it is also good fun on pensions and Europe – for his very good work. Maybe from the starting position we had slightly different views on this file. For Brian, it was also very important to stimulate the cross-border activity of pension funds, whereas for me, the protection of the people back home to ensure that their pension funds could not just go under and leave them unprotected was very important, as was ensuring that national banks keep their supervision and their control.

We secured that very well, and the compromise that we struck is a very good way of dealing with cross-border pension funds. This is indeed crucial. Why is Europe addressing this issue? It is because we are talking about huge investments with huge consequences that people are relying on, and you want to make sure that people can rely on them in the longer term too. We are especially happy that, under the Green initiative, pension funds are now obliged to report on their investments and future carbon stocks so that in the longer term the carbon bubble is being taken care of for the pension funds’ longer-term investments. That is a very important Green success which we have happily achieved under the leadership of Brian Hayes. Thank you for that once again, and also thanks to all the Dutch shadows who joined in the negotiations.

 
  
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  President. – The better you work now, the better you will feel when you are my age. Please remember that!

 
  
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  Σωτήριος Ζαριανόπουλος ( NI). – Κύριε Πρόεδρε, οι εξελίξεις στο συνταξιοδοτικό, μαζί με την Πράσινη Βίβλο της Ένωσης και τη νομοθεσία των κυβερνήσεων, αποδεικνύουν ότι τα επαγγελματικά ταμεία, που ενισχύετε παντοιοτρόπως, οι φοροαπαλλαγές στους εργοδότες και τα λοιπά είναι μέθοδος κατεδάφισης της κοινωνικής ασφάλισης, που εξελίσσεται σε όλα τα κράτη μέλη.

Προϋπόθεση είναι η ουσιαστική κατάργηση της επικουρικής ασφάλισης, ο περιορισμός της κύριας σε επίπεδα φτωχοκομείου, όπως συμβαίνει στην Ελλάδα με το τρίτο αριστερό μνημόνιο της κυβέρνησης ΣΥΡΙΖΑ-ΑΝΕΛ. Είναι μορφή ανταποδοτικής ιδιωτικής ασφάλισης που, αν έχεις τα οικονομικά μέσα, συμμετέχεις -αποκλείονται, βέβαια, εκατομμύρια άνεργοι, απλήρωτοι, χαμηλόμισθοι, ευέλικτα απασχολούμενοι- χωρίς να ξέρεις ποτέ αν και πόσα θα πάρεις.

Τα αποθεματικά παίζονται από τα κοράκια της ιδιωτικής ασφάλισης στα χρηματιστήρια ενισχύοντας τις επιχειρήσεις, ενώ πολλά δισεκατομμύρια χάθηκαν παντού ή συντάξεις πετσοκόβονται όπως στην Ελλάδα.

Το ασφαλιστικό δεν κλείνει, όπως ισχυρίζεται η ελληνική κυβέρνηση και άλλες βέβαια, όσο η εργοδοσία και το κράτος θα αναζητούν νέες απαλλαγές χάριν της καπιταλιστικής ανταγωνιστικότητας. Ένας δρόμος υπάρχει για τους εργαζόμενους: οργάνωση και πάλη για αποκλειστικά δημόσια, καθολική ασφάλιση με βάση τις σύγχρονες ανάγκες τους.

 
  
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  Theodor Dumitru Stolojan (PPE). – Domnule președinte, mulțumesc raportorului și celor care au lucrat direct la acest raport. Eu cred că, în primul rând, trebuie să recunoaștem că sistemele de pensii bazate pe principiul „pay as you go”, adică pe transferul inter-generații, este depășit în condițiile în care asistăm la tendința de îmbătrânire a populației în întreaga Europă și, evident, la creșterea mobilității forței de muncă. De aceea, trebuie să încurajăm sistemele de pensii în care fiecare individ contribuie la fondul său de pensii pe întreaga durată activă a vieții sale. Iar schemele ocupaționale de pensii se încadrează în această categorie. Iată de ce felicit Comisia Europeană și susțin propunerile Comisiei, precum și propunerile din prezentul raport.

Atrag însă atenția că, în unele state membre, atunci când schemele ocupaționale de pensii se află în sectoarele finanțate din bugetul public, trebuie să evităm contribuțiile excesive din bugetele publice la aceste scheme, pentru că nu înseamnă altceva decât tot transfer inter-generațional prin taxe plătite.

 
  
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  Neena Gill (S&D). – Mr President, Europe’s population is aging. Today we have four people of working age for everyone over 65, but by 2060 this ratio will be halved. This means that the pension system we have today will become untenable. This is a critical piece of legislation and my congratulations to the rapporteur Brian Hayes and to the shadow rapporteurs for ensuring that the pension system is simplified while retaining essential information, for boosting cross-border schemes, and for introducing new rules on greater transparency on remuneration policy for the managers of pension funds.

High standards on governance of pension funds are essential if we are to tackle scandals like the BHS one in the UK. Pension schemes have to be well run by managers who are fit and proper, to ensure that ordinary members get vital information about how their money is being spent and what they can hope to receive once they retire.

Let us not forget that pension funds are key players in making the capital markets union a reality. Therefore, it is really important that they take more environmental, social and corporate governance criteria into account when investing, but at the same time, if we want these funds to ensure they have a good return for future pensioners, it is important they improve the diversity of their portfolios, not just concentrating on investing in OECD countries with low economic growth.

 
  
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  Sofia Ribeiro (PPE). – Senhor Presidente, na União Europeia, até 2060, o grau de dependência social sobre a população em idade ativa ultrapassará os 140 %, o que exige, como tenho vindo a reforçar nos meus relatórios sobre o Semestre Europeu, que façamos reformas socialmente responsáveis nos regimes de pensões para garantir que a minha geração terá direito a reformas dignas.

É economicamente inviável continuarmos a sobrecarregar os regimes de pensões públicos – dependentes, em exclusivo, de uma solidariedade entre gerações, ameaçada pelos preocupantes níveis de desemprego jovem a que temos vindo a assistir –, assim como é economicamente inviável continuarmos a ignorar os resultados das alterações demográficas, nomeadamente o aumento da esperança média de vida dos europeus e a redução da natalidade, bem como o início tardio da atividade laboral.

Os regimes de pensões públicos têm de continuar a assegurar a dignidade na velhice, mantendo-se como pilares de um modelo social europeu. Mas faz hoje cada vez mais sentido que se promovam e que reforcemos planos complementares de pensões, associados aos contratos de trabalho, que permitam aos trabalhadores, voluntariamente, garantir para o seu futuro uma situação financeira estável.

Os Estados-Membros devem ser capazes de assegurar mecanismos de supervisão destes planos profissionais de pensões, garantindo que constituem um complemento credível e seguro para os nossos cidadãos, assim como primar pela transparência dos mesmos, permitindo que os nossos concidadãos conheçam as respetivas condições e que possam, assim, tomar decisões sobre o seu futuro em consciência.

 
  
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  Thomas Mann (PPE). – Herr Präsident! Nach vielen Niederländern jetzt mal ein weiterer Deutscher. Ich danke Brian Hayes für seine exzellente Arbeit und die zähen Verhandlungen im Trilog. Möge es gelingen, dass in der morgigen Abstimmung ein klares Signal gesetzt wird für den Fortbestand der betrieblichen Altersversorgung.

Wir sagen Ja zu einem Mindestmaß an europäischer Harmonisierung. Wir bestehen jedoch darauf, dass die Mitgliedstaaten aufgrund ihrer höchst unterschiedlichen Vereinbarungen und Umsetzungen eigenständig für weitere Maßnahmen sorgen können. Dazu gehört ein verstärkter Schutz für die Leistungsempfänger. Auch soll die demografische Entwicklung beachtet werden und für ein Gleichgewicht zwischen den Generationen gesorgt werden.

Betriebsrenten sind Pensionseinrichtungen, die sozialen Zwecken dienen. Sie sind keine Finanzdienstleistung. Eine Anwendung von Solvabilität-II hätte ihren Fortbestand gefährdet, hohe Mehrkosten und großer bürokratischer Aufwand wären die Folgen gewesen. In Deutschland haben wir 20 Millionen Beschäftigte, die einen Anspruch auf Betriebsrenten haben. Die Mittel zur Deckung belaufen sich auf mehr als 550 Mrd. EUR.

Ich freue mich sehr, dass die inhaltliche Linie meiner Arbeiten als Berichterstatter zum Thema in den Jahren 2012 und 2013 jetzt konsequent fortgesetzt wurde – dank eurer Arbeit –, ein weiterer wichtiger Schritt auf dem Weg zu einem sozialeren Europa.

 
  
 

Procedura „catch the eye”

 
  
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  Νότης Μαριάς ( ECR). – Κύριε Πρόεδρε, η κατάσταση που επικρατεί στην Ελλάδα στο επίπεδο των συντάξεων είναι πραγματικά απογοητευτική και έχει δημιουργηθεί λόγω της πολιτικής της τρόικας.

Προηγουμένως, κύριε Katainen, αναφέρθηκα στο ΦΠΑ. Τώρα θα σας πω τα στοιχεία για τις συντάξεις, μια πολιτική που ξεκίνησε από το 2010 μέχρι τώρα. Σήμερα, λοιπόν, έξι στους δέκα συνταξιούχους παίρνουν κάτω από 650 ευρώ, ενώ το 80% των συνταξιούχων στην Ελλάδα παίρνει λιγότερα από 750 ευρώ. Το ασφαλιστικό σύστημα διαλύθηκε, διότι με το περίφημο PSI η ζημιά των ασφαλιστικών ταμείων φθάνει στα 12,5 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ. Υπάρχει απάντηση στο ζήτημα αυτό;

Πράγματι, μπορεί να γίνει ανακεφαλαιοποίηση του ασφαλιστικού συστήματος, διότι υπάρχουν 19,5 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ από το τρίτο δανειακό πακέτο που πήρε η Ελλάδα και δεν έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί και θα μπορούσαν 12,5 ή και 14 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ να διατεθούν για την ανακεφαλαιοποίηση των ασφαλιστικών ταμείων τα οποία ζημιώθηκαν. Ανακεφαλαιοποίηση για τις τράπεζες έγινε. Μπορεί να γίνει και για το ασφαλιστικό σύστημα.

 
  
 

(End of catch-the-eye procedure)

 
  
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  Jyrki Katainen, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, I will be very short. I just want, on my behalf and on the Commission’s behalf, to thank rapporteur Hayes for an excellent job and it is also very good to hear that the principles are so widely shared here and that there is a political will to look at this proposal, and hopefully everything will go well in the future.

 
  
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  Brian Hayes, rapporteur. – Mr President, I promise on this occasion I will stick under my two minutes. I want to express my thanks for all of the contributions that have been made. As people have said: the great news is we are living longer, and we have got to respond to the demographic needs across the European Union, but we have also got to respect the fact that we have, within the European Union, many different pension schemes, different pillars, and that has to be respected.

So our principle of having minimum harmonisation, respecting Member States, and doing that in a framework, is at the heart of this proposal. I think it is really important that we send out a strong message to encourage employers and employees, which is a great European tradition in terms of the social market economy, to start saving and putting money aside. We are not going to do that if we impose new solvency requirements on pensions, if we impose new taxation on pensions. Now is the time for people to save, to ensure they have an adequate income into the future, and the way to do that is to make sure that we get this proposal right.

Others have spoken about the challenges. Yes, this is a low interest rate environment. It is an enormous challenge for pension schemes to yield the return that they need. We have seen a move from defined benefit to defined contribution schemes within the second pillar. There is a clear funding gap for many of these schemes. That is why we need a period of certainty and not to start having enormous regulatory burdens placed on the industry right now.

I am particularly proud of the fact that we have managed to put in place a better regime for cross-border pension provision and for cross-border schemes in terms of the fully funded arrangement, and also in terms of the clear rules for home and host. This is a major advance to ensure that we can get more take-up of cross-border pension schemes.

Finally, this has to be seen within the context of CMU, within the context of aligning our pension policy towards jobs, investment and growth across the European Union. If we do that we will make a success of that into the future by protecting people’s real incomes into the future.

 
  
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  Preşedintele. – Dezbaterea a fost închisă.

Votul va avea loc joi, 24 noiembrie 2016.

Declarații scrise (articolul 162)

 
  
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  Viorica Dăncilă (S&D), în scris. – În Uniunea Europeană, disparitatea în materie de pensii între femei și bărbați este în medie de 39 %. Motiv pentru care Comisia ar trebui să propună acțiuni și posibile schimbări structurale ce sunt necesare pentru a asigura niveluri egale de pensii pentru femei și bărbați în toate statele membre.

O soluție ar fi încurajarea statele membre să elaboreze scheme complementare care să contribuie la pensiile din pilonul al doilea, astfel încât să se elimine disparitatea în materie de pensii dintre femei și bărbați și să se garanteze accesul femeilor la pensii decente. Aceste instituțiile pentru pensii ocupaționale sunt o parte vitală a economiei europene, deținând active în valoare de 2,5 mii de miliarde de euro în numele a aproximativ 75 de milioane de cetățeni ai Uniunii.

Având în vedere că la nivel european avem sute de mii de lucrători transfrontalieri, care au un loc de muncă în alt stat membru, consider că este important să găsim o soluție pragmatică pentru acele instituții care decid să gestioneze o schemă în alt stat membru. Aceasta ar putea duce la economii semnificative pentru aceste instituții, ar îmbunătăți competitivitatea sectorului la nivelul Uniunii și ar facilita mobilitatea forței de muncă.

 
  
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  Bart Staes (Verts/ALE), schriftelijk. – Het uitbouwen van pensioenstelsels in de tweede pijler (bedrijspensioen) mag niet ten koste gaan van het wettelijk pensioen (eerste pijler), dat nog steeds de beste garantie biedt tegen armoede op oudere leeftijd. Mensen worden immers in pensioenstelsels geduwd waarbij ze wel de risico’s delen, maar niet de voordelen kunnen halen uit aandelen. Een stresstest toonde aan dat er een kloof gaapt van 430 miljard euro tussen de beloofde opbrengsten en de eigenlijke middelen die beschikbaar zijn om de beloftes waar te maken. Dit zou kunnen oplopen tot 770 miljard euro bij een gelijkblijvend economisch klimaat. Wanneer het spaarpotje uit het wettelijk pensioen wordt gehaald, worden de cijfers misschien opgelapt, maar het biedt geen duurzame oplossing. We willen overigens niet de grensoverschrijdende pensioenmarkt stimuleren. Ik steun het rapport evenwel ten volle steun, omdat in de investerings- en risicomanagementprocedures ook criteria inzake milieu, sociale impact en bestuursaspecten zijn opgenomen. Dat maakt de pensioenfondsen niet alleen transparanter, ze krijgen ook de wettelijke garantie dat een om milieuredenen verantwoorde investeringsstrategie niet voor de rechter kan worden gebracht, als die investering minder zou opbrengen dan een sociaal- of milieuonvriendelijke investering. En dat is uniek in Europese wetgeving.

 
  
  

PRESIDE: RAMÓN LUIS VALCÁRCEL SISO
Vicepresidente

 
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