Gabriel Bernardino speech on Topical developments on pensions: an EIOPA perspective

On the 18th of November, Gabriel Bernardino, Chairman of EIOPA, gave a speech at the 9th European Pension Funds Congress in Frankfurt. He stated that “The percentage of the EU population that is covered by decent pension systems is still too low. We are indeed facing an EU pension’s landscape in need of reforms.”

He went on to say that “To ensure that citizens will have a chance to maintain appropriate standards of living in their retirement it is self-evident that we need a comprehensive package of reforms. Changes to ensure the future sustainability of public pay-as-you-go pension systems need to be accompanied by reforms incentivising the creation of funded complementary private schemes be it 2nd pillar occupational pensions or 3rd pillar personal pensions.

From a policy perspective this should be the first strategic priority at national and EU level.”
He also set out the three fundamental building blocks of EIOPA’s pensions’ vision i.e. enhanced sustainability, strong governance and full transparency and stated that EIOPA’s work on delivering these objectives is more focused on Defined Contribution plans.

He concludes his speech with “EIOPA is committed to creating a sustainable, safe and adequate pension system through a robust and proportionate EU regulatory framework. Not for the sake of regulations or supervision, these are only tools for a more important goal: creating real benefits for the EU, its economy, businesses and citizens.”

The full transcript of Gabriel Bernardino’s speech is available here.