The
European Commission has launched a public consultation on removing the barriers
to mobility caused by the loss of rights in EU supplementary pension plans.
The
consultation will look at current pension rules that discourage employees from
changing jobs or transferring to another member EU state.
It
is hoped that the initiative will encourage supplementary pension provision and
cross border mobility on the continent.
HR
consultants Mercer backed the move, but highlighted the issue of tax
harminisation as crucial in encouraging European mobility.
Paul
Kelly, a partner at Mercer said: "Multinational employers are paying
millions of pounds in compensation for employees’ loss of retirement benefits
when they transfer within Europe. This is because tax reliefs vary
significantly between member states," he said.
"One
of the simplest ways to have true pan-European pension mobility would be to
have a single pan-European pension
scheme for each multinational employer."
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