July 2024

2024 Pension adequacy report: Current and future income adequacy in old age in the EU

By European Union  The report’s main focus is on old-age pension systems. It looks primarily at statutory pensions, incorporating the adequacy contribution of supplementary pensions where relevant. The report also looks at the role of survivors’ pensions in providing adequate old-age income for surviving spouses. In the context of its analysis of income inequalities and redistribution mechanisms, the report also considers minimum income provision for older people and how taxation affects income distribution in old age. Given the importance of services...

June 2024

Economic & Budgetary Projections for the EU Member States (2022-2070)

By Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs European Economy Institutional Papers are important reports analysing the economic situation and economic developments prepared by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, which serve to underpin economic policy-making by the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. Views expressed in unofficial documents do not necessarily represent the views of the European Commission. Get the report here

EU. ESAs publish final greenwashing report calling for critical scrutiny

The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) – the European Banking Authority (EBA), European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) – have called on financial institutions to deepen their critical scrutiny of sustainability related claims and improve product disclosures to combat greenwashing. Following two years of research, the trio today published their key findings and recommendations in tackling greenwashing. Key recommendations include an increase of human resources and expertise, along with increased use of tools for greater...

March 2024

Building Europe’s Green Transition and Retirement Security – Listed Real Estate’s Dual Role in Global Megatrends

As we enter 2024, the world continues to confront financial and environmental challenges on a global and societal scale. Globally, efforts to meet the Paris Agreement’s objectives are falling behind, with the green transition’s investment levels not meeting the necessary targets. This was highlighted by the World Bank’s Senior Managing Director, at the recent EU Sustainable Investment Summit, where the critical need for accelerated private investment in sustainability was underscored. The Commission identified a 1.5 trillion euro annual funding need...

Lessons from the Pan-European Personal Pension product (PEPP)

By Hans van Meerten Europe has come up with legislation for a new individual pension product: the PEPP. This introduces an individual retirement account that can be rolled out in the entire European Union (EU). And can be offered to citizens worldwide. Europe – like most continents - is ageing at a rapid pace. In 2060, there will be two people at a working age for every pensioner, in comparison with four people at a working age at the present time....

February 2024

EU. Sustainability and greenwashing in insurance – EIOPA publishes draft Opinion

Insurance consumers and pensions savers are increasingly interested in allocating their money to sustainability related products. So insurance and pensions providers are expanding their sustainable offerings and adapting their business models to be more sustainable. While the growth of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing can contribute to the transition to a more sustainable economy, greenwashing risk exists. Greenwashing is the practice of misrepresenting sustainability-related features of investment products. The issue has received renewed attention at European level, with EIOPA recently...

Aging Europe

By Eurostat In this interactive report, Eurostat presents us with the most relevant statistics on the aging population of the European Union, covering aspects such as working life, living conditions, access to health and income. All these statistics are accessible at the regional level and by country in the European Union. Get the report here

January 2024

The EU Loses About a Million Workers Per Year Due to Aging. Migration Official Urges Legal Options

The European Union’s top official for migration said Monday that member states will have to confront tough policy challenges — even in the current election year – to cope with the continent’s aging population. Ylva Johansson, the EU home affairs commissioner, said there was a pressing need to shift away from illegal migration and find more legitimate alternatives. “For demographic reasons, the population of working age in the EU will decrease by 1 million per year. It is decreasing by 1 million per...

December 2023

New EU gig worker rules will decide who should get benefits for full-time workers

In a bid to improve working conditions for people delivering food and offering rides through smartphone apps, the European Union on Wednesday gave temporary approval to rules that stipulate that Who should get the benefits of full-time employees and restrict online avenues? Platforms use algorithms to manage their employees. The European Parliament and the 27 EU member states agreed on a platform worker directive that took years to create. It aims to boost protections and benefits for the growing number...

November 2023

EIOPA chair pushes for action on pension dashboard, auto-enrolment, PEPP

The chair of the European pensions supervisory authority has called for “bravery” to make a pensions dashboard at European level a reality. In late 2021, EIOPA delivered its advice to the European Commission on developing pension tracking services and a dashboard to strengthen the monitoring of pension developments in EU Member States. Speaking at EIOPA’s annual conference today, Petra Hielkema said the advice was “sitting there, in Brussels”. “It’s difficult, because if you really want a full dashboard you need the labour and social...