The ageing, financial and labour market challenges facing the old age pension systems of the member states of the European Union are well known. Those who cast doubt on the ability of the present system of pension provision - at least to the extent that it is pay-as-you-go financed - to cope with the problems posed by these challenges are getting more vociferous. Increasingly there are calls for pay-as-you-go systems to be cut back and for funded systems to be expanded. This book contests the view that funding is the answer. It shows how adaptable the largely pay-as-you-go old age pension systems in the European Union are. Actuaries, economists, lawyers, political scientists, pension advisers, and sociologists, from nine European countries and the United States, consider four main themes: population ageing, competitiveness and retirement; pension financing and economic growth; adapting pension systems to meet change; and decision-making processes. They argue that pay-as-you-go-financed old age pension systems in the European Union have the ability to successfully adapt to economic and social change provided they do not take on too many non-insurance-related risks. Solving the problems of the labour market and controlling the direction and extent of economic development are beyond the powers of old age pension systems, regardless of how they are structured or financed. Separate budgets for separate risks is an indispensable principle if the complex processes of social protection are to be successfully managed, monitored, and made transparent. There can be no single plan for the future development of old age pension systems which would be universally valid for all the countries of the European Union. A single solution cannot take into account the special circumstances obtaining in every nation, and since respect for the special features of national systems is the basis of popular acceptance, the way forward is to reform existing systems in existing contexts.

The aim of this paper is to develop indicators to highlight the ability of different national pension systems to enable individuals to maintain their living standards at retirement. Authors Margherita Borella and Elsa Fornero of the University of Turin and CeRP, perform the analysis using data and projections on different European countries and propose the use of a 'COmprehensive Replacement' (CORE) rate. Their aim is to compute, for a set of countries representative of the different European welfare and pension systems, both an actual (data-based) version of CORE, based on ECHP data, and to project its evolution into the future. The paper is organised as follows. Section 1 provides a theoretical framework as well as a review of the literature on the topic. Section 2 contains the computation of replacement rates based on ECHP data. In Section 3 CeRPSAM projections are used to compute COREs over time. Section 4 concludes.

Pension reforms in former transition economies aimed to fiscal sustainability and market economy objectives. Estimating the gross and net replacement rates in 9 countries for steady conditions until 2040 show that they are adequate for most categories of workers, with the exception of those with intermittent or no formal sector employment.

Europe is facing a crisis as the age-group contributing to pensions diminishes in size and the recipient group increases as the population ages and remains healthy. These papers explore the evolution of pension financing in the European context.