Vergrijzing speerpunt Zweeds Voorzitterschap EU (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Rising public debt levels and Europe's ageing population have the potential to cause extensive problems in the future, said European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday (5 May).
As the economic crisis pushes EU member state governments increasingly into the red, concerns are mounting over the region's ability to meet future pension payments.
"We not only have a financial crisis, but there is the challenge of our ageing population and the necessity to reform our pension systems and the systems of public health insurance," said Czech finance minister Miroslav Kalousek, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Talking to journalists after the meeting, economy commissioner Joaquin Almunia said he had received assurances from the Swedish government that dealing with the matter would be a top priority when they take over in July.
"The Swedish minister, Anders Borg, has committed that under the next presidency the issue of ageing will be one of the most important elements in finance minister meeting agendas," said Mr Almunia.
The commission recently published a 2009 Ageing Report in which it warns of the dangers of generational conflict in Europe if long-term structural changes are not undertaken.
Tuesday marked the last time Mr Kalousek will chair the finance minister meetings after the Czech government of which he is part lost a vote of no confidence in parliament in March.
A new interim government will take over this weekend, managing the country until elections take place this autumn.
Employment summit
Politicians are also increasingly aware that Europe's rising unemployment has the potential to cause social conflict in the region.
The commission's latest spring forecast released on Monday predicts EU unemployment to average 9.4 per cent in 2009, rising to 10.9 per cent in 2010.
On Thursday, the commission, businesses and trade unions and representatives of the Czech, and upcoming Swedish and Spanish EU presidencies will meet in Prague in a bid to come up with solutions.
However, it remains unclear what exactly they can achieve.
"We expect that the summit will contribute by providing certain guidelines for common approaches," said Mr Kalousek.
But he added that overburdening European companies with "excessive" obligations would be counterproductive. "I don't think we should call on the companies to cease being competitive," he said.
For his part, Mr Almunia says he would like to see the summit come forward with suggestions on how to improve worker employability.
Stamp of approval
Perhaps in recognition of the imminent Czech handover, EU finance ministers rubber-stamped an extensive list of proposals on Tuesday without much arduous debate.
Included in this list were four pieces of legislation in the field of financial services: new rules for insurance companies, credit rating agencies, electronic money transfers and cross-border payments within the EU.
Ministers also reached an agreement to increase the EU's balance of payments facility from €25 billion to €50 billion so that future cash-flow problems in non-euro states can be dealt with adequately. A number of eastern European member states have already availed themselves of the fund.
Finally, it is clear that tensions over the OECD's recent list on tax havens are still running high.
"Personally on my behalf I feel it necessary to say sorry to Luxembourg, Austria and Belgium. In no case are they non-co-operating jurisdictions or tax havens and the publication of their names under that list was not fair," said Mr Kalousek.
The three countries were highly dismayed to see their names on a "grey" list produced by OECD on 2 April and acknowledged by a meeting of G20 leaders on the same day.