South-European pension systems: challenges and reform prospects

Abstract

The European Union is presently facing new and crucial challenges. Doubts are publicly voiced about the viability of the euro currency and the project of a United Europe. Some governmentsare blaming others, especially those of Mediterranean countries, for failing to rein in their economic deficits, Southern European countries are being pictured as examples of how a country should not be run, and for this reason not deserving solidarity from more virtuous countries. When compared with European societies North and West, Southern European countries are said to be not only lagging behind economic and socially, but also politically and in terms of good governance