Barroso urges EU Member States to reform pensions

(MADRID) - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday that a general reform of the pension system was needed in EU member states as people live longer and have fewer children.

"There is in fact a problem and reforms must be made to pension systems in general," he told a joint news conference in Madrid with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

"We encourage governments to act responsibly and within the framework of social dialogue to carry out reforms to the European pension system which we justly want to preserve for the future."

Barroso was speaking to reporters following a meeting of the new European Commission with Spanish cabinet ministers. Spain currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the 27-nation EU.

His comments come as Spain's Socialist government faced the first mass protests by unions in its six years in power, over a plan to raise the legal retirement age to 67 from 65.

Spain's two largest unions, the UGT and the CCOO, called the demonstrations in several cities, including Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, for Tuesday evening with further protests planned in the rest of the country up until March 6.

Protests have also been held in other EU nations, including the Netherlands and Greece, over similar plans to raise the legal retirement age.

Earlier this month Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi proposed raising the retirement age across the European Union at an EU summit in Brussels.

"I have raised the issue of raising the retirement age, given that there is a need everywhere, pensions are increasingly weighing on the finances of all states," he said.