The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has announced plans to launch a defined contribution (DC) toolkit aimed at supporting stronger member states and helping to close the pension gap across Europe.

The initiative was unveiled by EIOPA pensions team leader, Carine Pilot-Osborn, during the Pensions Europe Annual Conference 2025: The Way to Better Pensions, held today (10 April) in Bucharest.

She confirmed that the authority would begin an industry-wide consultation in the coming weeks to gather input from stakeholders across the European pensions sector.

“This will provide guidance to strong member states and help address the pension gap,” she said, emphasising the importance of this upcoming consultation.

The DC toolkit will be designed to offer practical guidance on best practices in DC pensions.

Pilot-Osborn explained that it will focus on a range of key issues, including the scale of DC schemes, the quality of engagement between schemes and members, and the mitigation of risks in the accumulation phase.

“It will look at evidence and practices and focus on quality engagements and practices as well as address the level of DC scale and mitigation for accumulation in the implementation process,” she explained.

The consultation will serve as the foundation for shaping the toolkit, with EIOPA inviting contributions from industry stakeholders, regulators, supervisors, and pension providers.

Later on in her keynote speech, Pilot-Osborn highlighted the increasing role of digitalisation in improving pension scheme administration and member communication.

She emphasised that by leveraging digital platforms and tools, the European pensions industry could facilitate the administration of pensions schemes, improve communication with members and provide personalised advice and guidance.

"To achieve this, we need to encourage good collaboration of stakeholders, regulators, supervisors and industry to share best practices," she said.

To further support this digital transformation, EIOPA will run a pilot test in June, which will focus on aspects of digital technology and progressive challenges and environments to pension saving.

“To achieve this, we need to encourage good collaboration of stakeholders, regulators, supervisors, and industry to share best practices,” she added.

This follows a separate announcement made yesterday (9 April), in which EIOPA set out plans to simplify regulation and reduce administrative burdens.

EIOPA said that the plans to simplify regulation and reduce administrative burdens are aimed at improving competitiveness and building a more resilient European economy.

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