Pan-European Personal Pension Products should be in consumers’ interest, calls EESC

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has released its opinion on the Commission proposal for the Pan-European Personal Pension Product. The EESC highlights the importance of consumer protection in the new type of financial product, which would allow EU savers to take out pension funds and insurances across EU borders.

As the EESC’s opinion points out, Pan-European Personal Pension products are important for a limited number of groups, such as mobile professionals who work in different EU member states, while statutory and work-based pensions should remain more relevant to EU member states’ policy efforts.

However, the EESC considers the creation of such products should meet a number of criteria:

• Taxation on Pan-European Personal Pensions should be fair and non-discriminatory relative to national products
• Consumer protection and risk mitigation should be strengthened, especially in terms of clarity on the guarantees that exist for savers who invest into those products.
• The market should be strongly monitored by a European authority (EIOPA) and national supervisors to achieve consistency across the Union
• The fees charged for contracting Pan-European Personal Pensions should be clear

The consumer association Better Finance has welcomed the proposal for a Pan-European Personal Pension product, highlighting that it has the potential to reduce costs for consumers. Better finance also identified key aspects for this aim to be achieved: the basic investment option should provide good value for money and be simple and standardised. Also, products should be regulated by strong investor protection rules; such as the disclosure of information that shows the long-term returns of a particular product in comparison with similar products.

While AGE welcomes the proposal and the overall objectives and design, we are currently assessing the proposal for Pan-European Personal Pension Products and will develop a more detailed position later on.

For more information, please contact Philippe Seidel, AGE Policy Officer: philippe.seidel@age-platform.eu

Useful links:

• AGE Platform Europe: Commission launches proposal for Pan-European Personal Pensions
• EESC opinion on the Pan-European Personal Pension product
• Better Finance: Better Finance Applauds EU Proposal for a Pan-European Personal Pension (PEPP) to Defuse the Ticking Pensions Time Bomb
• European Commission, Commission launches a new pan-European personal pensions label to help consumers save for retirement