Yesterday EIOPA published four Opinions to assist National Competent Authorities (NCAs) in the implementation of the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provisions - the IORP II Directive.

You can find PensionsEurope press release here.

PensionsEurope’s brochure “Europe needs to shift gears in pensions” contains PensionsEurope’s policy recommendations for the EU’s next 5-years programme by highlighting why supplementary pensions matter, and why and how EU policy needs to support supplementary pensions. It e.g. stresses that the EU should support the development and strengthening of supplementary pensions. Pension system design is a matter of national competence, but the EU should act as a facilitator to exchange information and best practices on how to ensure the long-term sustainability and adequacy of pension systems.

The brochure also contains various concrete proposals for the new EC. For instance, based on the outcome of the EC’s fitness check on the supervisory reporting, we expect concrete actions from the new EC. Furthermore, we invite the EC to include in its next 5-years programme our proposal on an EU tax register of recognised pension institutions. You can find our press release here.

PensionsEurope’s brochure on supervisory reporting discusses appropriate reporting requirements for pension funds. It stresses that relevant and comparable information about pensions in Europe is needed, but the requirements need to be fit for purpose, as all costs will ultimately be paid by pension fund members and/or any associated plan sponsor (the members’ employer).

Pension funds are, first and foremost, institutions with a social purpose active on the financial markets. Therefore, they cannot be compared directly to financial institutions such as banks and insurers. A one-size-fits-all approach to applying European legislation and supervisory requirements to pension funds would be detrimental as it would not consider the heterogeneity and complexity of the different combined first and second pillar systems.You can find the press release here.