EUROPE – The European Commission has cancelled two impact assessments for the first pillar of the revised IORP Directive commissioned from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Commission's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, IPE understands.

According to sources in Brussels familiar with the matter, the European Commission decided over the summer to cancel the two impact studies after Michel Barnier, the commissioner for the internal market and services, announced in May that the introduction of pillar one of the IORP II Directive would be postponed.

Speaking with IPE, the source said ECB staff had already started on the study and were "disappointed" to see their work suddenly cease.

The EC originally commissioned two separate studies on pillar one of the revised IORP Directive shortly after it received the technical specifications on the launch of the quantitative impact study (QIS) for the revised IORP Directive from the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).

Earlier this year, IPE was told that the ECB was asked to conduct a thorough analysis of the impact capital requirements for occupational pensions could have on the broader financial market.

One of the two sources said at the time: "I know the European Commission has commissioned the ECB to look into whether and how the introduction of risk-based supervision is influencing the asset allocation of pension funds."

Topics