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Finance

Action 9 - Supporting people in their retirement

Progress so far on action 9 of the capital markets union 2020 action plan.

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Part of objective 2 of the capital markets union (CMU) action plan, Action 9 aims to support people in their retirement.

National pension tracking systems and pension dashboard

The EU population is ageing. With longer life expectancy, people increasingly need to invest long-term so they get higher sustainable returns and a suitable complementary income for their retirement. Complementing the existing monitoring tools with more detailed information on occupational pension schemes, pension dashboards will provide Member States with a more comprehensive view of the adequacy of their pension systems, encouraging them to address shortcomings and share best practices. Individual pension tracking systems will provide citizens with an overview of their future retirement income, based on their entitlements in all the pension schemes they participate in or the expected return of long-term products they invest in.

In the 2020 CMU action plan, the Commission committed to (i) identify the relevant data and methodology for developing pension dashboards with indicators and (ii) develop best practices for the set-up of national tracking systems.

Auto-enrolment

People should be encouraged to supplement public pensions with life-long saving and investment, including through more active participation in occupational pension schemes. This will enable them to benefit from more adequate retirement income and make it possible to finance the long-term growth of the real economy, as well as its green and digital transition.

In the 2020 CMU action plan, the Commission committed to launch a study to identify and score best practices in auto-enrolment schemes for a number of EU and non-EU countries. The study gathers information from interviews, experts meetings and desk research, and runs an empirical analysis to measure the impact of such mechanisms on participation and pension adequacy.

Pan-European personal pension product (PEPP)

The PEPP Regulation, adopted in 2019, began to apply on 22 March 2022. This will pave the way for a new voluntary EU-wide scheme for people to save for their retirement, and a broad range of financial institutions across the EU will be able to offer it. PEPP is a key part of the commission's action plan to strengthen the capital markets union. It will be available as a complement to public and occupational pension systems, alongside existing national private pension schemes.

PEPP will offer pension savers more choice, and the benefit of greater competition, enhanced transparency and flexibility in product options. There is a “basic PEPP” option – a default option with strong safeguards and where the maximum fees are capped at 1% of the accumulated capital. Savers will be able to switch providers every five years, at limited cost, and continue saving in the same product even if they move to another EU Member State.

PEPP providers will benefit from a real single market for the PEPP and from facilitated cross-border distribution, which will allow them to pool assets and create economies of scale.

At the same time, PEPP will help channel savings towards capital markets and benefit investment and growth in the EU.

 

Back to the list of actions under the 2020 CMU action plan