Europe fails to make case for Solvency II

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) commented on the speech that the Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier gave at the European Commission’s hearing on the EU Pensions Directive in Brussels today.

NAPF Chairman Mark Hyde Harrison, who spoke at the hearing, said:

“This is the wrong directive at the wrong time. It would not only severely damage pension provision, but also the economic growth and jobs of European member states at a time when all resources are needed to tackle the financial crisis.

“The European Commission has completely failed to make the case for a new IORP Directive. And it has not undertaken any impact assessment that might give us confidence that the new rules could meet their objectives.

“Final salary pensions which are already largely closed and which will never be cross-border schemes will shut to all future accrual. EU citizens will have less choice, lower pensions provision, and less financial security in retirement - which will provoke greater dependence on state benefits.

"Commissioner Barnier told the conference we must be ambitious, but the feedback today is that this directive is reckless. It is not worth the risk."

 

Notes to editors:

The NAPF is the leading voice of workplace pensions in the UK. We speak for 1,200 pension schemes with some 15 million members and assets of around £800 billion. NAPF members also include over 400 businesses providing essential services to the pensions sector.

Contacts:

Paul Platt, Head of Media and PR, NAPF, 020 7601 1717 or 07917 506 683, [email protected]
Christian Zarro, Press Officer, NAPF, 020 7601 1718 or 07825 171 446, [email protected]