Yves Stevens

Towards a New Role for Occupational Pensions in Continental Europe: Elements and Techniques of Solidarity Used within Funded Occupational Pension Schemes

‘At first glance, it may seem incongruous to talk of private pensions in terms of equity. We do not for example, question whether champagne consumption is fairly distributed.’ This paper is about the debate on occupational pensions in continental Europe. Instead of looking at the financial issues, it looks at the elements of social protection and solidarity within occupational pensions. Occupational pensions are of increasing importance for continental European society. This is indicated by a so-called ‘new pension order’ that is predominantly influenced by the Anglo-Saxon vision of pensions. However, much of the ongoing (legal) debate on pension reform deals with elements such as fairness and redistribution.

Issues in Complementary Health Insurance in Belgium

This article attempts to assess the increasing role of complementary social insurance in healthcare in Belgium. As different players attempt to fill in the lacunae of the statutory social security scheme, the demarcation of their sphere of action and of their mutual relationship is becoming problematic. It is therefore interesting to see the evolution of solidarity and selectivity. The analysis of both categories and products in complementary health insurance indicates the limitations and the bottlenecks in coming years for the social security scheme on the one hand and complementary social insurance on the other.

The silent pension pillar implosion

This article discusses recent trends in occupational pension policy and identifies the rise of a second policy wave directed towards greater individualisation in occupational pension plans. It is clear that, at a global level, governments and regulatory offices are promoting the so-called third pillar as a valuable pension option and that freedom of choice of the individual is a key element in this process. This individualisation reflects the decreasing involvement of employers in occupational plans and the increasing attentiveness of governments towards individual retirement schemes. We ask whether the so-called first and third pillar are pushing the second pillar away and whether there is a silent pension pillar implosion. In the article, we describe and analyse recent legislative and regulatory initiatives in six European countries to locate the individualisation process. We also propose a new paradigm for pension policy makers in which the so-called pension pillars are abandoned and replaced by an integrated pension vision leading to a balanced target income in retirement. In this integrated vision, there is a legal link between all forms of pension in a given country. This link is reflected in social and fiscal law.