14 December 2016

The development of personal pensions at the national and cross-border levels is hindered by high compulsory payments to public pension funds, restrictions on the participation of the self-employed and the unemployed, rules governing access to retirement savings, taxation of retirement income and other national legal requirements.

Unstable legal regimes (frequent policy shifts and uncertainty regarding policy sustainability), over-regulation (price caps, regulation of investment strategies and contribution rates) and a general lack of a long term vision hinder the provision of cross-border pensions and create barriers to entry for pension providers.

Member States should reduce red-tape, allow for more flexibility in choosing personal pension schemes, promote cross-border personal pensions through a preferential tax treatment of employer and/or employee contributions and provide saving options for self-employed and temporarily unemployed individuals.