The European Parliament has responded to the European Commission’s White Paper, released in February 2012 (more than a year already!), with a non-legislative resolution introduced by MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten (EPP). Adopted on March 22 by the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, the text initially echoes the Commission’s view on extending the period of time worked to qualify for pension benefits. Amazingly, more attention is paid to demographic changes than jobs, notwithstanding the fact that employment is an essential precondition for financing pensions. Nonetheless, the European Parliament sets itself apart from the Commission regarding the respective importance of the three pillars, which we at Ipse prefer to call the “three stories” in a spirit of consolidation. Indeed, voices on Rue Wiertz (EP) can be heard admonishing occupants of the Rond Point Schumann (EC) for not having sufficiently emphasized the “fundamental function of the public pillar” (No. 1), especially in the fight against poverty.