Following Monday’s vote by the parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON), PensionsEurope praised MEPs in pushing for a “practicable, proportionate and less prescriptive proposal” compared with that tabled by the Commission in 2014.
PensionsEurope welcomed a “simplification” of the universal Pension Benefit Statement (PBS), which consumer group BETTER FINANCE had previously warned against.
Indeed BETTER FINANCE’s Managing Director, Guillaume Prache impressed upon Hayes the need for the PBS to be as transparent as measures in place in the US. In a letter from BETTER FINANCE to Hayes and ECON chair Roberto Gualtieri, Prache strongly protested against any amendments that could be “a very significant step back in the protection of EU pension savers”. The letter mentioned that the amendments risked “a severe watering down of the information that IORP participants would receive”.
It said any action to undermine transparency could contradict the Commission’s recent work around the Capital Markets Union. “The recent Capital Markets Union Action Plan expressly asks the European Supervisory Authorities to promote the transparency of long-term retail and pension products and an analysis of the actual net performance and fees,” Prache said.
The approved draft will function as the parliament’s negotiating position as the trialogue negotiations get underway between member states, MEPs and the Commission.
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