August 2021

European Union: Putting A “PEPP” In The Step Of European Pension Providers?

The pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) is a voluntary, individual, non-occupational personal pension product that offers savers a new pan-European means of saving for retirement. The first PEPPs can be established from 22 March 2022, but will this product prove popular for providers? Before the introduction of the PEPP, there was no legal framework governing personal pensions at an EU level. It was recognised that the lack of an internal market for pensions caused difficulties with pension portability for mobile...

Brexit: Thousands of EU citizens face losing benefits

THOUSANDS of EU citizens living in the UK are set to lose their benefits next month if they haven’t applied for settled status. Campaigners have warned that the UK Government's decision to cut off European nationals could push vulnerable people into destitution. There are fears that many are still unaware that they need to apply for settled status after Brexit. The Independent reports that around 70,000 European nationals who receive benefits had not yet applied to the settlement scheme by the June...

July 2021

EU. ESG Disclosure Regulation: a closer look at Article 8 and Article 9

March 2021 saw Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 27 2019 on disclosure of information related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in the financial sector (SFDR) finally becoming applicable. This regulation, issued in the context of the EU Commission’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, represents a major milestone by introducing unprecedented harmonised requirements on sustainability-related disclosure in financial products to a multitude...

The EU’s new green plan to achieve carbon neutrality

The European Commission revealed a new green financial plan on July 6 to meet its 2030 goal of cutting emissions by 55% across EU member states. The European Union body will need to raise €350 billion ($414 billion) a year to promote the use of natural gas over coal for power generation and push financial institutions to go green. Achieving the 55% cut in emissions will be a major step toward achieving carbon neutrality by the middle of the...

June 2021

EIOPA: Publication of the Annual Report 2020

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published its Annual Report 2020, setting out its activities and achievements of the past year. In a year dominated by COVID-19, EIOPA played a key role in insurance and pensions supervision in Europe. EIOPA's actions related to COVID-19 ranged from putting in place immediate measures to enable the sector to focus on business continuity and obligations to policyholders and beneficiaries, to providing information directly to consumers on what they should expect from their...

EIB Investment Report 2020/2021: Building a smart and green Europe in the COVID-19 era

By European Investment Bank The European Union's massive efforts to rebuild after the coronavirus pandemic present a unique opportunity to transform its economy, making it more green and digital – and ultimately more competitive. The Investment Report 2020-2021 looks at the toll the pandemic took on European firms’ investment and future plans, as well as their efforts to meet the demands of climate change and the digital revolution. The report’s analysis is based on a unique set of databases and...

2021 pension adequacy report Current and future income adequacy in old age in the EU. Volume I

By The 2021 Pension Adequacy Report (PAR) is the fourth edition of the report, prepared every 3 years by the Social Protection Committee (SPC) and the European Commission. The report aims to present a comparative analysis of the degree to which pension systems in the EU Member States enable older people to retire with an adequate income today and in the future, reflecting pension reforms, as well as underlying changes and current or future challenges in our societies. Since 2012, the...

Sustainable Pensions, Democratic Governance, and EU Law

By Ewan McGaughey The quality of democracy in our economy depends on the governance of capital, but Europeans are still deprived of real voice over their retirement money: the single biggest source of capital in the 21st century. This paper outlines three major problems facing EU pensions: precarious retirement, escalating inequality, and mounting climate damage. These problems start with the places where we work, the institutions that control our retirement savings, and the votes on shares that come with them....

EIOPA issues Guidelines on the supervisory reporting for the Pan-European Personal Pension Product

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority published today the Guidelines on the supervisory reporting regarding the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) to ensure the common, uniform and consistent application of the PEPP Regulation's reporting requirements. The Guidelines complement the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/895 and the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/896 and regulate the applicable reporting deadlines for the PEPP providers to the competent authorities in line with the relevant sectoral rules in place. Furthermore, the Guidelines define the requirements of...

May 2021

Labour Force Survey in the EU, EFTA, United Kingdom and candidate countries

By Eurostat This report describes the main characteristics of the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) conducted in 2019 in the Member States of the European Union (EU), three EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland), the United Kingdom and four candidate countries (Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey). All of these countries provide Eurostat with EU-LFS microdata. The purpose of this report is to inform about the technical features of the surveys carried out in these countries, in order to...