EUROPE – The European Parliament (EP) has turned its report on the occupational pensions directive into a social reform policy, ousting the proposals by the European Commission for a financial services directive, the European Federation for Retirement Provision (EFRP) has warned.

In a cautious statement to last week’s unanimous vote by the Parliament on the Karas report, the EFRP says that while it welcomes much of the thrust of the report, it disagrees
with the social reform approach, noting: “It focuses on matters, which are the responsibility of Member States or of social partners.”

The EFRP continues: “The EP has erred by proposing legislation for second pillar pension provision rather than addressing the needs of pension funds as financial institutions. This explains why such proposals occur as – compulsory biometric risk option, the compulsory option for guaranteed redemption of contributions, and governance requirements.”

These the federation says are ‘unworkable’ proposals.

See full report on IPE-Newsline tomorrow July 10.

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