The pan-European personal pension product (“PEPP”) Regulation, adopted in 2019, starts to apply from 22 March.
This will pave the way for a new voluntary EU-wide scheme for people to save for their retirement, and a broad range of financial institutions across the EU will be able to offer it.
PEPP – a key part of the Commission’s Action Plan to strengthen the Capital Markets Union – will be available as a complement to public and occupational pension systems, alongside existing national private pension schemes.
PEPP will offer pension savers more choice, and the benefit of greater competition, enhanced transparency and flexibility in product options. PEPP providers will benefit from a real single market for the PEPP and from facilitated cross-border distribution, which will allow them to pool assets and create economies of scale.
At the same time, PEPP will help channel savings towards capital markets and benefit investment and growth in the EU.
Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, said: “With this new framework for a pan-European personal pension product (PEPP), people will have more choice when saving for their retirement, while enjoying strong consumer protection. As a complement to public pensions, PEPP caters for the needs of today’s younger generation and allows people to better plan and make provisions for the future. From today, personal pension providers are able to provide PEPP across the EU with one single registration. And by channelling savings towards long-term investments, PEPP will help boost growth in the EU.”
The June 2017 Commission proposal on PEPP is part of the Commission’s action plan to strengthen the Capital Markets Union. The PEPP regulation was agreed and adopted on 25 July 2019 with the purpose to contribute to building an internal market on personal pensions, enhancing the possibilities for providers to provide personal pension products cross-border and providing consumers with a competitive alternative to save for retirement.
