Europe is starting the process of raising the retirement age to 74 years, Greece made one of the first steps in this direction by approving employment programs up to 74 years for certain categories of citizens, said a former MEP, chairman of the Greece – Another Way party, professor of EU institutions in Crete Notis Marias University.
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The Greek Parliament a few days ago adopted a bill submitted by the Ministry of Finance, one of the articles of which provides that the employment programs of the State Employment Service can also include the unemployed “over the age of 67 and under 74 years of age who do not have the required pension record to qualify for a pension.”
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“This is a pan-European tsunami of raising the retirement age to 74,” Notis Marias said.
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“A pan-European increase in the retirement age was planned at the height of the pandemic, from the end of 2020. On October 13, the Council of the EU issued decision number 2020/1512 “On the guidelines for the employment policy of the Member States”, which was published on October 19, 2020 in the Official Journal of the EU. This there was a “control shot” on the pension rights of workers, since this decision requires an increase in the retirement age,” the politician said.
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According to him, the decision states that Member States should take into account the guiding principles in their employment policies and reform programs that will be reported on, and Guiding Principle 8, among other things, provides that “due to increasing life expectancy and demographic amendments, Member States should ensure the adequacy and sustainability of pension systems for employees and the self-employed by providing equal opportunities for women and men to acquire pension rights, including through supplementary schemes that provide sufficient income for older people.”
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“According to these principles, pension system reforms should be based on policies aimed at narrowing the gender pension gap, as well as measures to extend working life, such as raising the effective retirement age, and be based on active aging strategies,” Marias said.
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“Then the EU leaders took over the baton, who, with the consent of Greece and Cyprus, decided at the summit in Porto on May 8, 2021 to extend the length of service to 74 years. Porto’s declaration, despite the supposedly worker-friendly and social wrapper, is nothing but a new seniority, raising the limits of the retirement age and destroying the pension system. EU leaders did not dare to speak directly about working until the age of 74 and therefore referred to two texts indicating an increase in the retirement age, believing that people would swallow it, “the politician said.
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According to him, the first text – the Social Commitment of Porto, adopted on May 7, 2021 at the Social Conference of Porto, explicitly states that it supports expanding access to basic digital skills to at least 80% of people aged 16-74, which promotes skills development, retraining, employment and innovation.
