Abstract. This study aims to analyze the public pension schemes in Romania in the light of the challenges presented by global economic crisis and by the Romanian reform inequities and inconsistencies that have been a part of this field since 2001. The contents of this paper examine four types of pension schemes in some Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU) which according to our research can be the basis for a development of Romanian public pension schemes that can be robust, flexible, equal and that can account to all endogenous and exogenous challenges, designed to encourage labor market retention of people of retirement age through a continued active life, at the expense of pensioner benefit. Study findings provide some viable solutions in terms of economic efficiency and equal benefit of retired and the proposal to reform the Romanian public pension scheme is necessary and can provide opportunities for those to whom it is addressed.

Keywords: social security; public pension; labor market; social insurance; pension scheme.