EUROPE – The European Commission plans to table a pensions portability directive, according to the European Parliamentary Pension Forum.

The forum said Jérôme Vignon, director of the Commission’s directorate general for Employment and Social Affairs, confirmed the plan at a meeting in Strasbourg this week.

It said that because “the water between the social partners has proved to be too deep” the Commission has decided to table a directive that would take a “minimal harmonization” approach.

The forum - set up in 2003 to aid the exchange of information between the pension industry and the European Parliament - said the directive would seek “a delicate balance” between EU ‘competencies’, mobility of workers, and the so-called principle of subsidiarity, which lets decisions be made locally.

The group added that Vignon said the Commission is currently preparing an impact assessment study of such a directive.

“The Commission intends to send all representatives and stakeholders in the pension sector a questionnaire before the end of this month,” it said.

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