Brussels Takes Charge in the Pensions Dossier

At the beginning of this year, the White Paper An Agenda for Adequate, Safe, and Sustainable Pensions1 (hereinafter: White Paper) was published. This happened about one and a half years after the Green Paper Towards Adequate, Sustainable, and Safe European Pension Systems(hereinafter: Green Paper) was published.

The reactions to both documents vary from 'a very important document' to 'a missed chance' and 'a lot of emotion and little substance'. We regard both these documents as important and guiding for the pension systems in the European Union (hereinafter: EU). They demonstrate the role that Brussels envisages for itself and it offers considerable support for Member States to carry out reforms. The White Paper offers a rough sketch, so to speak, for the pension systems of the EU.