The EC’s White Paper on Adequate, Safe and Sustainable Pensions was published on 16 February 2012. It describes the challenges the EU is facing due to its ageing population and sets out 20 action points for the EU and member states. The IORP Directive was implemented in the UK in 2006. It provides a framework for the operation and supervision of occupational schemes, including how they should be administered, and their funding and investment rules. The EC is reviewing the Directive and has raised the possibility of applying a similar approach to “Solvency II” to pensions. Solvency II is a fundamental review of the capital adequacy regime for the European insurance industry. It aims to establish a revised set of EU-wide capital requirements and risk management standards that will replace the current solvency requirements. The Committee plans to take oral evidence from the European Commission having first heard from representatives of the UK pension industry, business and employees.
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