The State of the European Union. The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 92 pared to the way welfare state benefits are cur- rently organised, is common to all approaches. Through the transfer of state resources and/or the support provided by the accumulation of as- sets from their own contributions in an account, the individual should be in a position, according to their own judgement, to adapt to certain changing demands in life and to use the availa- ble funding to do this. This is an issue, particu- larly when it comes to building up a financial cushion in the event of breaks in employment or periods of part-time work, continuing profes- sional development or vocational redirection but also when it comes to ensuring a flexible transi- tion into retirement. The accounts could supple- ment or replace other social welfare benefits. Similar approaches already exist in five European countries, each of which is structured differently: the personal activity account in France (Compte Personnel d’Activité, CPA); the new severance payments scheme in Austria (Abfertigung Neu); the life-cycle savings scheme in the Netherlands (Levensloopregeling); the Individual Learning Account (ILA) in the UK; and the career interruption model in Belgium (Loopbaanonderbreking). The examples show that the principle of transferable and – at least partially – autonomously managed benefit enti- tlements has already been implemented and thus creates best practice approaches for Europe-wide legislation.