The pension system reform in the various European countries has been at the forefront of the political and scientific debate for years. The necessity to face the new social-economic context has led to the introduction of new measures for the reorganisation of institutions. To promote widespread discussion on legislative innovations already introduced and on prospects for further commitment for the modernisation of pension systems, the seminar held in Brussels on 23-24 June 2005, entitled «Pension Policies and European Social Model» organised by Inca, Cgil and Ferpa (European Federation for the Elderly and Pensioners) with the collaboration of the Observatoire Social Européen, stimulated a debate between experts and social partners. Two papers presented at the seminar are published here. The first by David Natali deals specifically with these themes and took inspiration from the recent Green Paper on demographic changes published by the European Commission; the second paper reflects on the seminar proceedings. only subscribers can see the full article

The social partners, both employers and trade unions, played a substantial role in the «old politics» expanding pension systems in Europe; they are still active in the «new politics» of pension reforms. Given the electoral impact and political veto points, governments may seek to overcome reform blockage in political decision-making and implementation by social consensus seeking. Besides political interest politics, various modes of social governance are discussed: institutional consultation of the social groups, tripartite concertation between governments and the social partners, institutionalized forms of self-administration of pension insurance, and self-regulation via negotiated occupational pensions.only subscribers can see the full article