The new type of voluntary personal pension, pan-European personal pension product (PEPP), is designed to give savers more choice when they are putting money aside for old age and provide them with more competitive products.

PEPPs will have the same standard features wherever they are sold in the EU and can be offered by a broad range of providers, such as insurance companies, banks, occupational pension funds, investment firms and asset managers. They will complement existing state-based, occupational and national personal pensions, but not replace or harmonise national personal pension regimes. The Commission is also recommending that Member States grant the same tax treatment to this product as to similar existing national products to ensure that the PEPP gets off to a flying start. The new products will also ultimately bolster the Commission's plan for a Capital Markets Union by helping to channel more savings to long-term investments in the EU.

Read the press release.