The European Council for Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs has reached an agreement on the European Commission's proposal for a directive on improving the portability of supplementary pension rights. The Directive was originally proposed in 2005 but subsequently underwent years of amendment.
The statutory pension rights of people working in another Member State have been protected for a number of years. An equivalent protection for occupational or supplementary pension arrangements has never, however, been established. Individuals who move between Member States can potentially lose their pension entitlements under these arrangements due to long qualifying or "vesting" periods. The proposed Directive as agreed will require Member States to implement minimum requirements for the acquisition and preservation of pension rights for people who go to work in another Member State. Although not obligatory, the Commission expects that the Member States will also apply the standards laid down by the directive to internal mobility.
It remains for the European Parliament to adopt the amended proposal and the Council to adopt the Directive.
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