The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) chairman Gabriel Bernardino is confident that an agreement on Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) will be found before the end of the current European Parliament mandate.

In his opening statement at the EIOPA annual conference in Frankfurt, Bernardino said the PEPP will provide a smart portability which will be able to keep up with a changing labour market, so mobile workers will be able to pay into the same product when moving within the European Union.

“The PEPP has come a long way since our initial proposal. PEPP provides European citizens an entirely new personal pension framework in the form of a safe, portable, long-term retirement savings product,” Bernardino said.

“However, PEPP will only be successful if it is trusted. As a European supervisory authority, EIOPA can ensure consistent high standards throughout Europe. In this regard, a central authorization hub and a key contact point for accessing information on PEPP are crucial for its success. I am confident that the political trilogue will be successful and an agreement will be found before the end of the current European Parliament mandate.”

Talking about the issues around the roll-out, Bernardino said the specificities of pension funds in different countries makes it impossible to apply any kind of regime one to one without having a deep understanding.

He also pointed out that what is happening in different countries, with a move away from DB pensions to DC or CDC mechanisms is also a factor to consider.

There is no one simple solution, Bernardino said. EIOPA’s analysis has shown that there are issues about transparency, costs, cost efficiency and transferability and the portability of pensions throughout Europe.

“We really believe that (PEPP) can be a strong contribution. And if it is a success, it can also influence the rest of the market. We definitely want to build something in which people understand, a simple product with simple information.”

He said that PEPP will “not be a silver bullet, of course not. There needs to be a lot of initiatives that would be brought into this area for pensions, but PEPP, I think, can be one of the important elements moving forward in having better retirement solutions in Europe.”

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