Abstract
According to official long-term projections, the ageing population will put an increasing pressure on public finances. The present paper first presents the OECD-method of how to assess financial sustainability. It then compares and critically discusses assumptions and results of the Swiss and EU projections, which cover a timespan until 2060. Without corrective measures, public debt will increase sharply in Switzerland as well as in the EU. Therefore, the actual financial policy is not sustainable.