Good morning, thank you for being here.
Today, the Commission took the latest step in turning the Savings and Investments Union from vision into action, by putting forward our package on supplementary pensions.
In Europe, people now live longer and healthier lives – which is something we should be proud of.
State-funded pensions schemes, and in particular “pay as you go” pension systems are the backbone of the retirement systems across all Member States. And they will remain so.
However, when longer life expectancy is combined with shrinking workforces and the rise of flexible and non-standard forms of employment, we need to think carefully about how to foster opportunities for EU citizens to complement their retirement incomes.
Supplementary pensions, such as occupational and personal pension schemes, allow citizens to build more adequate and diversified retirement incomes, giving them greater financial security and stability in later life.
They help Europeans maintain their standard of living and strengthen their economic resilience, especially as demographic trends and changes in the labour market evolve.
Beyond the clear benefits for individuals, boosting supplementary pension schemes plays a strategic role in financing the real economy.
Investing for your pension is, by design, a long-term investment into the economy.
This investment, which begins by you simply putting money aside for your retirement, is a catalyst which supports innovation, business growth, job creation, and productivity.
It also means that you are not only funding your own retirement, but you are providing the opportunity for future generations to do the same.
A more vibrant EU supplementary pension sector can provide stable capital for essential and strategic projects that society relies upon, including energy and digital transition, transport networks, and social infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, and affordable housing.
However, uptake of supplementary pensions in Europe remains low. Only 20% of Europeans participate in an occupational pension scheme, and just 18% own a personal pension product.
With this package, we are taking a comprehensive approach to strengthen both the demand and the supply for supplementary pensions.
We want to encourage more people to save for their retirement, and make it easier for them to do so, with the objective to complement - not replace - state-funded pensions.
Todays package is made up of one recommendation and two legislative proposals. I will take each of these in turn.
Our recommendation covers pension tracking systems, pension dashboards, and auto-enrolment into supplementary pension schemes.
The reality is that right now, it is not easy for Europeans to understand what they will be entitled to when they retire.
This lack of clarity about their future pension often leads people either not to save at all or to begin saving too late in their lives.
To address this issue, we are recommending to Member States to introduce pension tracking systems – which are in practice, digital platforms – where citizens can track their pension rights and projected benefits ideally across various pension schemes and providers, including public pensions.
We are also recommending pensions dashboards, which will provide an overview of the sustainability and adequacy of national pension systems, including key indicators such as coverage, contributions, retirement income across different population groups, and fiscal costs.
This will provide more trust in pension systems and will support policy design at national level based on clear evidence. Those national dashboards should ultimately feed into an EU-level pension dashboard, which would facilitate cross-country comparisons and mutual learning.
This tool also highlights that the structure of pension systems remains primarily a Member States competence and that our initiatives presented today are not changing that.
Finally, we are recommending that Member States introduce auto-enrolment, whereby workers are automatically included in supplementary pension schemes but can opt out if they wish.
Auto-enrolment helps overcome the natural tendency to delay decisions about retirement, ensuring more people begin saving earlier and more consistently – while fully respecting individual choice.
Where already in practice throughout Europe, auto-enrolment has proven to be successful in increasing participation rates as well as pension adequacy for retirees. Evidence shows that individuals, once enrolled, tend to remain in the schemes.
The two legislative proposals we are putting forward cover our existing rules on occupational pensions, known as IORP (Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision), and personal pensions, known as PEPP.
Today, IORP schemes are still too small and fragmented across the EU. Around 80% have less than €1 billion of assets under management and one third of them have less than €25 million.
With this review, we want to change that. First, by removing barriers to consolidation, we can help schemes operate more efficiently, reduce costs, and invest more strategically for the long term, increasing returns.
And second, we want to strengthen trust in occupational pensions by improving transparency and giving beneficiaries clearer, more useful information about their future retirement income.
Regarding PEPP, our review of this Regulation aims to make it more attractive and accessible for both savers and providers, and to turn it into a genuinely European, cost-effective and long-term savings product.
We are proposing to bring in more flexibility for providers, while upholding strong transparency, cost disclosure, and investor protection.
Finally, today, the Commission has also adopted a Communication which clarifies the so-called “prudent person principle”, which governs how pension providers should invest and manage their portfolios.
Our clarification will ensure that equity investments by supplementary pension schemes are not discouraged.
This will help citizens achieve higher long-term returns on their savings and free up new sources of financing for the EU economy.
Our supplementary pensions package will work hand in hand with our initiatives on financial literacy and savings and investment accounts, providing Europeans with more opportunities to save for their futures and helping Europe build a more resilient and confident society.
Today, we are delivering tools to boost participation in supplementary pensions but effective implementation at national level will be critical to achieve our objectives.
Thats why I urge all stakeholders to join us in this effort.
I now look forward to your questions.
