Brussels, 11/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - On the 12 June, on the initiative of Anna Diamantopoulou, the Commission launched the first phase of the social partners' consultation on the transferability of company pension rights. Under the supervision of the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Fritz Bolkestein, an agreement was reached for liberalising pension funds throughout the EU. Andrew Fielding, Anna Diamantopoulou's spokesman, pointed out that this still didn't resolve the problem of workers who wanted to work in another Member State or simply work for another company. The absence of a common framework on transferring company pension rights in the EU constitutes a serious stumbling block to the free movement of workers. Commissioner Diamantopoulou's starting point is the realisation that "many employers consider the company pension as a means of rewarding the loyalty of their workers to the company, whereas it should be seen as deferred income and an essential element of social protection".
In its communication, the Commission is asking for the opinions of social partners on the following points: 1) The usefulness of Community action on transferring company pension rights; 2) The form that such EC action should take (collective agreement, directive, recommendation, code of good practices, guidelines etc.); 3) Main features of such a measure; 4) Possibility of carrying out such action at an inter-sector and/or sector level; 5) The field of application for such a measure (the kind of systems it would cover).