Policy change at a time of retrenchment: Recent pension reform in France, Germany, Italy and the UK

Two influential recent approaches to social policy in Europe imply (for dif ferent reasons) that the reforms currently on the agenda, which typically i nvolve cost-containment, are peculiarly difficult to achieve. Esping-Anders en sees much of Europe as set in a "frozen welfare landscape": due to the p ower of the interests advantaged by the status quo. Pierson sees retrenchme nt as a peculiarly difficult Problem for all governments, regardless of the ir political ideology. This paper reviews recent pension policy in France, Germany, Italy and the UK. It argues that developments in Germany indicate that it ir possible to achieve appropriate policy change in the country whi ch is often used as the paradigm of entrenched interests without major rest ructuring of the system. Conversely, recent reforms in the UK(seen by Piers on as the country which has achieved the most rapid changes) appear disprop ortionate to the scale of the problems faced and may have damaged pensioner s' interests. This indicates that the capacity to achieve substantial refor m is not necessarily in itself a virtue. The real issue is the quality of r eform achieved.