The information on this site is subject to a disclaimer and a copyright notice . Enable supplementary pension schemes to take greater advantage of the single market and the euro. The maintenance of a high standard of welfare protection is an objective shared by all Member States of the European Union. One of the major challenges in this connection lies in controlling the cost of this protection, while ensuring economic and social cohesion and making a positive contribution to economic growth.
Pensions are a key component of the welfare protection systems.
The supplementary schemes encompass the second and third pillars. Hence they are designed to supplement the state schemes. The Green Paper on supplementary pensions prompted a hundred or so responses from the European institutions, notably the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee, but also from the Member States, the social partners and the financial sector. While Member States are free to organise their pension systems as they wish, the Commission must ensure that the supplementary schemes take advantage of the single market freedoms. This is not the case at present.