European Governance After Lisbon and Portability of Supplementary Pension Rights

Abstract

The need to remove obstacles for migrant workers was recognised from the inception of the EEC. Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72 were enacted on the legal basis of Article 42 EC, which provides for Community legislation to be adopted in the field of social security in order to provide the freedom of movement of workers. However, in relation to pension provisions, these Regulations cover only statutory pension schemes.3 The issue of enhancing portability of supplementary pension rights as a way of improving workers’ mobility within the Member States has been attracting attention for more than fifteen years.4 Demographic changes and the Community goal of modernising social protection systems have further increased the focus on portability of supplementary pension rights. Nevertheless, at present, a clear legal framework safeguarding supplementary pension rights for EU workers and their family members does not exist. The main reasons for the lack of sufficient legislative measures protecting such rights can be attributed to the great heterogeneity between supplementary pension schemes and the fact that supplementary pension provisions form part of the national social security systems where the Community has restricted competence to intervene, as the Member States are primarily responsible for their organisation. The Open Method of Coordination (OMC), introduced at the Lisbon European Council in 2000, has provided the EU an alternative means, through soft law measures, to address such sensitive policy areas. From 2001, OMC was also applied to pensions. Although its effectiveness is not clear yet, it can provoke interest and engage the Member States towards the removal of hindrances in portability of supplementary pension rights. Alongside existing EU processes and the traditional Community method, portability of such rights may be promoted.