Directive 2003/41 - Activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision - Main contents

official title

 

Legal instrument	Directive
Number legal act	Directive 2003/41
Original proposal	COM(2000)507
CELEX number i	32003L0041

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Directive 2003/41/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 June 2003 on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision

Official Journal L 235 , 23/09/2003 P. 0010 - 0021

Directive 2003/41/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 3 June 2003

on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 47(2), Article 55 and Article 95(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(3),

Whereas:

• (1) 

  A genuine internal market for financial services is crucial for economic growth and job creation in the Community.

• (2) 

  Major achievements have already been made in the establishment of this internal market, allowing financial institutions to operate in other Member States and ensuring a high level of protection for the consumers of financial services.

• (3) 

  The communication from the Commission "Implementing the framework for financial markets: action plan" identifies a series of actions that are needed in order to complete the internal market for financial services, and the European Council, at its meeting in Lisbon on 23 and 24 March 2000, called for the implementation of this action plan by 2005.

• (4) 

  The action plan for financial services stresses as an urgent priority the need to draw up a directive on the prudential supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision, as these institutions are major financial institutions which have a key role to play in ensuring the integration, efficiency and liquidity of the financial markets, but they are not subject to a coherent Community legislative framework allowing them to benefit fully from the advantages of the internal market.

• (5) 

  Since social-security systems are coming under increasing pressure, occupational retirement pensions will increasingly be relied on as a complement in future. Occupational retirement pensions should therefore be developed, without, however, calling into question the importance of social-security pension systems in terms of secure, durable and effective social protection, which should guarantee a decent standard of living in old age and should therefore be at the centre of the objective of strengthening the European social model.

• (6) 

  This Directive thus represents a first step on the way to an internal market for occupational retirement provision organised on a European scale. By setting the "prudent person" rule as the underlying principle for capital investment and making it possible for institutions to operate across borders, the redirection of savings into the sector of occupational retirement provision is encouraged, thus contributing to economic and social progress.

• (7) 

  The prudential rules laid down in this Directive are intended both to guarantee a high degree of security for future pensioners through the imposition of stringent supervisory standards, and to clear the way for the efficient management of occupational pension schemes.

• (8) 

  Institutions which are completely separated from any sponsoring undertaking and which operate on a funded basis for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits should have freedom to provide services and freedom of investment, subject only to coordinated prudential requirements, regardless of whether these institutions are considered as legal entities.

• (9) 

  In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, Member States should retain full responsibility for the organisation of their pension...

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