The problem

Europe could face a pensions crisis in the coming years which could leave many elderly people struggling in poverty. The continent’s pensions provision could be seriously undermined by demographic trends: Europe has a rapidly ageing population and low birth rates. That means a large number of elderly people to care for and less revenue to pay for pensions. What’s more, in many European countries people are not saving enough for their retirement, and poorly performing funds are damaging confidence in the private pensions system. This leaves policy-makers with a huge challenge as they try to find ways to help Europe finance old age.

Overview:

The AIM project – Adequacy of old age Income Maintenance in the EU – seeks to provide improved research tools for policy-makers charged with assessing the ability of pensions systems in Europe to deliver adequate financial support to older people.

The researchers will focus mainly on the capacity of European social security systems and their ability to prevent poverty among elderly people.

To achieve this, AIM addresses two scientific objectives:

• It will assess and explore the methodology used to analyse pension systems and come up with improvements
• It will use the new methodology to assess the adequacy of pensions provision

Contribution to policy development:

• The project will provide pensions policy-makers with new methods and knowledge that will help them analyse the adequacy of pensions provision
• AIM’s findings will help to inform the work of the European Commission’s Economic Policy Committee, specifically its Working Group on Population Ageing

Project deliverables

• Inception workshop for all partners – June 2005
• Various workshops for the different work packages – ongoing
• Final project report – March 2008
• Final project conference in Brussels, entitled ‘Providing adequate old-age income maintenance in the EU’ – April 2008

Dissemination

• Publication of working papers in relevant academic journals – as required
• Development of web pages, featuring project results, news, papers etc. – ongoing
• Presentation of AIM’s work at scientific conferences and workshops – as required
• Project partners will distribute information to national policy-makers and media – as required

Technical information

Project acronym: AIM
Project’s official full title: Adequacy of old-age Income Maintenance in the EU
Research priority: 2.1. Health determinants and the provision of high quality and sustainable health care services and pension systems (in particular in the context of ageing and demographic change)
Specific webpage: http://www.enepri.org
Proposal/contract no: Not available
Start date: May 2005
Kick off meeting: Not available
Completion date: April 2008
European Commission scientific officer: Jan Paehler, Jan.Paehler@ec.europa.eu

Coordinator:
Name: Centre for European Policy Studies
Abbreviated name: CEPS
Address: Place du Congrès 1, B-1000 Brussels
Country: Belgium
Tel: +32-2-229.3911
Fax: +32-2-219.4151
Website: www.ceps.be

Partners

Name: Federal Planning Bureau
Abbreviated name: FPB
Country: Belgium

Name: Deutsches Institut für Wirtschafsforschung
Abbreviated name: DIW
Country: Germany

Name: The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy
Abbreviated name: ELTA
Country: Finland 

Name: Fundación de Estudios de Economía Aplicada
Abbreviated name: FEDEA
Country: Spain

Name: Social and Cultural Planning Office
Abbreviated name: SCP
Country: The Netherlands

Name: Institute for Studies and Economic Analysis
Abbreviated name: ISAE
Country: Italy 

Name: National Institute for Economic and Social Research
Abbreviated name: NIESR
Country: United Kingdom

Name: Centre for Social and Economic Research
Abbreviated name: CASE
Country: Poland

Name: Social Research Informatics Centre
Abbreviated name: TARKI
Country: Hungary

Name: Centre for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies
Abbreviated name: CeRP
Country: Italy 

Name: Institute for Economic Research
Abbreviated name: IER
Country: Slovenia

Name: Institute of Slovak and World Economy
Abbreviated name: ISWE
Country: Slovak Republic