The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has drawn up a new type of model pan-European pensions format that could remove an important barrier to employee mobility within the European Union. The standardised Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) would have a wide range of safeguards to ensure companies offering the product could meet long term commitments. It would have a streamlined way to register the product and allow it to be marketed online without ‘advice’.
By means of a consultation, EIOPA is currently reviewing how far current controls on personal pensions could be adapted to fit the new product and if Pan-European Regulations would be necessary to back it up. It will report to the European Commission early next year and the new product could be available as early as 2018.