§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Social Services pursuant to the reply of 27 June, Official Report, c. 33, in which he indicated that the commitment in the solemn declaration of European Union to harmonise social security systems within the Common Market would not involve any change of current policy, when Her Majesty's Government first announced their intention to seek such harmonisation.
§ Dr. BoysonWithin the terms of articles 118 of the treaty establishing the European Community which provides for close co-operation between member states in the social field and against a background of considerable economic difficulty, the Heads of Government of the then nine states of the European Community at their meeting in Paris on 9 and 10 December 1974 made it their objective to harmonize the degree of social security afforded by the various member states, while maintaining progress but without requiring that the social systems obtaining in all member states should be identical. The full text of the communique was presented to Parliament by Command of Her Majesty in December 1974 (Command 5830).
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply of 27 June, Official Report, c. 33, how the harmonisation of social security systems within the Common Market will alleviate unemployment.
§ Dr. BoysonThe alleviation of the problem of unemployment for the individual as much as for the community at large depends among other things upon the sound financing of social security schemes, which must take account of the prevailing economic circumstances. The Commission of the European Communities has prepared a useful consultative document entitled "Social security problems—points for consideration" which was deposited in Parliament on 23 December 1982 and which has been subject of discussions at official level within the Community.
I understand that the Presidency of the European communities proposes that there will be an informal meeting in the autumn of social security Ministers to 41W discuss the document, which is directed particularly at current financial problems besetting many social security schemes. A notable example of the harmonisation of broad objectives in the social security field is the recommendation on the principles of a Community policy on retirement age which derived from an earlier Council resolution on the adaptation of working time.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply of 27 June 1983, Official Report, c. 33, what information he has as to the basic differences in levels of social security benefits for pensioners and other claimants, respectively, within the Common Market by comparison with current United Kingdom levels.
§ Dr. BoysonInformation as to the provision of old age pensions and other social security benefits in all the countries of the European Community is contained in the Department's publication "Tables of Social Benefit Systems in the Member States of the European Communities (Position at 1 January 1982)", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. The harmonisation of social security systems was adopted as an objective by Heads of Governments of the then nine states of the European Community at their meeting in Paris on 9 and 10 December 1974 but this does not imply that social security systems or the levels of the benefits in all member states should be identical and such a development does not form part of the Government's policy.