EU Pension Law

Abbreviations 9
Preface 11
Foreword 15

1 Introduction 19
1.1 The creation of an EU pensions union 19
1.2 Aging and new risks 20
1.3 The EU Treaty: Precedence over national law 22
1.4 The three pension pillars 22
1.4.1 The first pillar 24
1.4.2 The second pillar 24
1.4.3 The third pillar 25
1.4.4 The different pension pillars of Europe 26

2 The impact of the EU’s institutional system on pensions law 27
2.1 Introduction 27
2.2 EU competences to regulate pensions: The principle of conferred powers 27
2.3 The exercise of EU competences: The principles of subsidiarity and proportionality 35
2.3.1 Subsidiarity 35
2.3.2 Proportionality 40
2.4 Legislation and administrative rule-making 43
2.4.1 Introduction 43
2.4.2 Distinguishing legislative and non-legislative acts 44
2.4.3 Delegation and implementation 48
2.5 Rule-making and EU agencies 53

3 Occupational pensions and the freedom to provide services 55
3.1 Introduction 55
3.2 Compulsory membership and the freedom to provide services 57
3.2.1 Compulsory membership: An obstacle to the freedom to provide services? 58
3.2.2 Justifying obstacles to the freedom to provide services 59
3.2.3 The UNIS case 64
3.3 Comparison: Mandatory participation in a selection of Member States 65
3.3.1 Compulsory membership in the Netherlands 65
3.3.1.1 The Bpf Act and the Wvb 66
3.3.1.2 Compulsory membership in the Netherlands: Direct discrimination 67
3.3.2 Sweden 68
3.3.3 Denmark 69
3.3.4 Germany 70
3.3.5 Belgium 72
3.3.6 France 73
3.4 Concluding remarks 75

4 The Institution for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORP) Directive 77
4.1 Introduction 77
4.2 Scope of the directive 79
4.3 General observations on the IORP Directive 82
4.3.1 Background to IORP Directive revision: On IORPs and insurers 83
4.4 Revision of the IORP Directive: IORP II 86
4.4.1 Legal basis 86
4.4.2 Cross-border activity and applicable requirements 88
4.4.2.1 Funding requirements and cross-border schemes 88
4.4.2.2 Scope of cross-border regulations under IORP II 92
4.4.3 The prudent person principle and investment rules 94
4.4.4 System of governance and risk-management requirements 95
4.4.4.1 System of governance 95
4.4.4.2 Risk-management requirements 97
4.4.5 Information requirements and supervisory instruments 99
4.4.5.1 Pensions and fundamental European rights 100
4.4.5.2 Guarantees 101
4.4.5.3 Funding requirements 103
4.4.5.4 Information requirements and supervision under the IORP II Directive 105
4.5 Freedom of movement safeguarded? 108
4.6 Tax aspects 109
4.7 Final observations 111

5 Application of EU law on pensions: The property issue 113
5.1 Introduction 113
5.2 Article 17 Charter and Article 1 FP ECHR 113
5.2.1 Different wording 115
5.2.2 ECJ case law 116
5.2.2.1 The Hogan case 118
5.2.2.2 The Hampshire case 121
5.3 Direct horizontal effect: The ECHR v Charter 121
5.4 Application of the Charter to pension institutions 123
5.5 Conclusion 125

6 PEPP 127
6.1 Introduction 127
6.2 The pan-European personal pension product (PEPP) 128
6.2.1 Legal basis 128
6.2.1.1 The freedom to provide services and thecompartment approach 129
6.2.2 The PEPP as a framework 130
6.2.3 The authorization of a PEPP 132
6.2.4 Eligible providers 134
6.2.5 Distribution and information requirements 135
6.2.6 The default and alternative investment options 136
6.2.7 Investment rules 138
6.2.8 Out-payments 139
6.3 Conclusion 140

Index 141