WHY PENSION RIGHTS ARE ONE OF EUFASA’S CONCERNS
Loss of pension: spouses/partners are unable to accumulate pension years while on postings abroad
Spouses and partners are citizens of their countries and they should not be disadvantaged by the fact that they are accompanying a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Officer who is serving the state, abroad. They should be able to acquire their own personal pension, which is payable at the age of retirement, because they cannot contribute to a private pension fund or a state pension scheme on an ongoing basis due to our mobile life. Furthermore, in most of the countries that they are posted to, especially outside the EU, it is almost impossible to find paid work. Since the early nineties in all EU countries dual income households are increasing, a trend driven by the willingness to work of both partners, and also by economical and financial factors. We think that MFA spouses, and among them the foreign-born spouses, are exposed to discrimination by not being able to follow a career as they would have at home. Therefore, respective member states should take responsibility for this situation by providing compensation for the loss of pension rights.