05 May 2011

IPE: EFRP questions Commission's Call for Advice on IORPs

Verhaegen said EFRP was worried the CfA had taken Solvency II as a "benchmark" for risk-based supervision. "We hoped for more creative ideas, and we will propose an alternative to this that will hopefully be met with sufficient attention so we can walk away from the Solvency II straitjacket."

The European Commission's Call for Advice (CfA) on the revision of the IORP Directive has raised concerns at the European Federation for Retirement Provision (EFRP). Chris Verhaegen, chief executive at the EFRP, told delegates at the annual conference of German occupational pension association that the CfA had come too soon and relied too heavily on Solvency II.

Verhaegen also questioned the timing of the CfA, adding that she would have preferred to have seen the EU's White Paper on pensions first. Lichtenberger promised this for September 2011. The EFRP's head demanded an in-depth analysis of all responses to the Green Paper consultation, arguing that this had not yet been done. "Just one month after the closure of the consultation, we saw the first conclusions – a real Herculean feat for the Commission to have accomplished, given that 1,600 responses were filed," she said.

She urged the Commission to do other "necessary groundwork" before proceeding with any discussions on the pension system, such as the mapping of the various pension systems in EU member states. "I have the impression that the EU15 have so far left the new Member States out," she said, adding that so far, mainly Western European pension models had been considered. "The current IORP Directive applies to 27 Member States, but it is only relevant in six or seven Member States – this has to change, so any new Directive has to include all work-related pensions," she said.

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