July 2019

17Jul

Europe. Welfare Ministry requests EUR 54 million for welfare priorities in Latvia

Among the ministry’s priorities are different initiatives, including the increase of minimal pensions, improvement of the pension indexation mechanism, state support for the poor who have disabled children, and others. This will require EUR 27.5 million, for which the minister is prepared to fight. According to the minister, there are many different needs, including Latvia’s Castle of Light and the expensive bridge. There is also the need for an acoustic concert hall in Riga. Nevertheless, Petraviča believes a situation...

July 17, 2019
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09Jul

EIOPA establishes Expert Practitioner Panel on the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP)

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) kicks-off its policy work on Level 2 measures for the PEPP Regulation Challenging and diverse scope of deliverables - and tight timeframes - call for innovative and efficient solutions Today, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) established its Expert Practitioner Panel on the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP). To deliver on the forthcoming PEPP Regulation's policy perspective to design a PEPP that exhibits high quality product features around information...

July 9, 2019
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03Jul

Most European DB pensions are cashflow negative

Over 70% of UK defined benefit (DB) pension schemes are cashflow negative, with more benefits being paid out than contributions being received, while in Europe as a whole the figure stands at 64%. In the UK, this marks an increase of cashflow-negative DB plans of 7% since 2018. The key driver behind this year-on-year increase is the maturity of these plans, with many now being closed both to new members and new benefit increases. Throughout Europe, including the UK, 72% of...

July 3, 2019
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01Jul

Europe’s population is aging rapidly. Here’s how to turn that into an opportunity

Ahead of this weekend's G20 summit in Japan, an elderly idol group called Obachaaan released a music video welcoming the new visitors to their city, Osaka.The energetic seniors dance and rap through the port city in the slapstick rap-style video, called "Oba Funk Osaka" -- which charmed at least one world leader."Like Japan, Singapore too has an aging population," Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote in a Facebook post in reference to the demographic issue being on the global agenda at the G20 for...

July 1, 2019
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April 2019

15Apr

The Dynamism of the New Economy: Non-Standard Employment and Access to Social Security in EU-28

By Sonja Avlijas (LIEPP - Sciences Po) This paper examines the prevalence of non-standard workers in EU-28, rules for accessing social security, and these workers’ risk of not being able to access it. It focuses on temporary and part-time workers, and the self-employed, and offers a particularly detailed analysis of their access to unemployment benefits. It focuses on eligibility, adequacy (net income replacement rates) and identifies those workers which are at the greatest risk of either not receiving benefits or...

April 15, 2019
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March 2019

27Mar

Report on other information to be provided to prospective and current members: guidance and principles based on current practices

By EIOPA This report analyses certain national practices existing prior to the implementation of the Directive (EU) 2016/2341 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORP II). It concerns disclosure documents to be given to prospective members and members in the pre-retirement and pay-out phase, as set out in Chapter III “Other information documents to be provided” within Title IV “Information to...

March 27, 2019
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05Mar

Europeanising pensions and unemployment insurance

A European mechanism for pensions and unemployment insurance would protect vulnerable economies against asymmetric shocks and give life to the European Pillar of Social Rights. The debate about the future of the social dimension in Europe offers an opportunity to ground new policy directions and research. The European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) sets out, in its chapter III, the principles of social protection and inclusion, in which unemployment benefits and old-age income and pensions figure. Equality, fairness and...

March 5, 2019
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February 2019

23Feb

Household Savings in Central Eastern and Southeastern Europe: How Do Poorer Households Save?

By Elisabeth Beckmann (Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB)) Based on a survey of households in 10 Central Eastern European and Western Balkan countries, this paper presents new and unique evidence on which households have savings and how they save. The paper shows that the percentage of savers is low, and savings are frequently informal. Formal savings are dominated by bank savings, and participation in contractual and capital market savings is very low in comparison to high-income countries. Poor households are significantly less...

February 23, 2019
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08Feb

Work in Europe If You Want Your Pension to Grow While Doing Good

The continent has some $12 trillion committed to sustainable investing, more than anywhere else. These days, European asset managers’ websites all seem to have a section devoted to ESG, providing their take on a range of environmental, social, and governance topics including green energy and women on boards. Every mutual fund company has an ESG product, and every investment bank is rolling out ESG research. Europe is the place to be if you want to do good while becoming...

February 8, 2019
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03Feb

Perspectives on Poverty in Europe

By Stephen P. Jenkins (London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Department of Social Policy and Administration; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); University of Essex - Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)) I address four topics: how our capacities to monitor poverty in Europe have improved substantially over recent decades; how progress on EU poverty reduction has been disappointing and why this has been; conceptual and measurement issues; and the future direction of EU-level anti-poverty...

February 3, 2019
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