Brussels, 14/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - The reform of pension schemes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe was discussed at a conference held in Ljubljana on 4 and 5 November under the auspices of the Initiative for Social Cohesion of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. The idea was to enable the political authorities responsible for "pension" issues and social partners in this region to have an in-depth discussion on the different reforms undertaken in the 90s in this sector. Participants noted that there was not a single model of reforming pensions in these countries and that each pension scheme had both advantages and disadvantages. In Hungary and Poland, for example, a portion of their public pension schemes are being replaced by mandatory systems of commercially managed individual savings accounts, whereas that in Slovenia and the Czech Republic, we find public pension schemes with in addition, if so desired, complementary private pension schemes. Participants considered that each country should reform their pension scheme in relation to their own situation, while respecting a certain number of rules, such as those of the ILO's minimum level of social security, or the European Code on Social Security.