EUROPE - The Directorate-General for Interpretation, the European Commission's interpreting service and conference organiser, is tendering for a company to run a group pension plan for conference interpreting agents (ACIs).

The five-year contract will be to provide pensions for interpreters who have not nominated their pension provider.

The Commission said the winning bidder would become the default provider responsible for managing individual accounts and all contributions paid in.

The winner will be also open for all ACIs who are members of other pension schemes and wish to change their pension provider.

The Commission said, as at 1 August, approximately €2.75m had been accumulated in unpaid pension contributions from interpreters who had not nominated a pension provider.

"This amount," it said, "represents both the part withheld from the ACIs (8.25% of their daily fee and other allowances) and the contribution made by the institutions (16.5% of ACIs' daily fees and other allowances)."

The Commission said the contract would involve roughly 570 agents, living for the most part in the European Union.

However, because the pension provider will be also open for newly accredited interpreters, as well as ACIs who are members of other pension schemes and wish to change, the amount "may be higher and is not limited".

Tenderers must be pension providers, including insurance companies, banks, asset managers or IORPs, having a registered office in an EU member state.