The pan-European Personal Pension Product: key characteristics and main challenges

Abstract

Against the background of increasing challenges within the European Union related to ageing societies, a prevailing low interest environment, increasingly mobile life and work across the EU and the general distribution of wealth, several stakeholders within the EU have acknowledged the need to support the adequacy of national public pension schemes. This resulted in the conception of a Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP), voluntary and portable across the European Economic Area (EEA), aiming at combining profitability, transparency as well as the security and quality of the related investments. Embedded into the greater scheme of the aspired European Capital Markets Union, PEPP is intended as simple and affordable savings option for everyone with the goal of closing the pension gap. This paper revisits the process towards the current, finalized state of PEPP, exploring its product features, regulatory requirements and key challenges with regard to the possible emergence of products since 2022.