This is a result of the trend in most, but not all, Member States to lower the share of public PAYG pensions in total provision while giving an enhanced role to supplementary, prefunded private schemes, which are often of a Defined Contribution (DC) nature (see figure 10).

The Commission, the Members of this Chamber, the Council and the social partners have long expressed their dissatisfaction with the glaring inadequacy of the rights and protection conferred on mobile workers as regards the link between their statutory pension contributions and their supplementary pension contributions.

25. Recognises the fact that public pension systems strengthen social solidarity and are the responsibility of the Member States and that safeguarding these systems should be a political priority; believes that greater use of alternatives to state-funded pensions, such as supplementary schemes, could be a viable alternative; points out that private pensions could include occupational supplementary pension schemes by employers or other collective organisations and associations and individual supplementary pensions based on savings; emphasises that the existence of private pensions would increase the need for the appropriate regulation ...[+++]of private pension funds, the portability of such pensions and the promotion and continued modernisation (including more flexibility) of these alternatives; within this framework, believes that the risk should be taken into account that women in the context of the existing public pension system might lose insurance coverage if private provisions are to replace this system, but that this risk can be reduced by crediting pension entitlements for maternity leave, parental leave and breaks from work for personal reasons;

25. Recognises the fact that public pension systems strengthen social solidarity and are the responsibility of Member States and that safeguarding these systems should be a political priority; believes that greater use of alternatives to state-funded pensions, such as supplementary schemes, could be a viable alternative; points out that private pensions could include occupational supplementary pension schemes by employers or other collective organisations and associations and individual supplementary pensions based on savings; emphasises that the existence of private pensions would increase the need for the appropriate regulation of p ...[+++]rivate pension funds, the portability of such pensions and the promotion and continued modernisation (including more flexibility) of these alternatives; within this framework, believes that the risk should be taken into account that women in the context of the existing public pension system might lose insurance coverage if private provisions are to replace this system, but that this risk can be reduced by crediting pension entitlements maternity leave, parental leave and breaks from work for personal reasons;

Nonetheless, some countries may require additional reforms, aimed in particular at avoiding early withdrawals from the labour market, raising the age of definitive retirement, offering older people financial incentives to stay in the labour market and allowing individuals to increase their retirement income with a supplementary pension, while ensuring a better balance between individuals' contributions and benefits.

30. Welcomes specifically, therefore, the fact that the working group on tax policy has started work on the tax treatment of cross-border contributions of migrant workers in relation to occupational and sectoral systems and calls on the working group to extend its discussions in due course to other aspects of taxation on supplementary pensions and life assurance contracts with the aim of eliminating the double taxation of pension benefits, which still exists in some cases;