The European Council for Employment, Social Policy, Health and
Consumer Affairs has reached an agreement on the European
Commission's proposal for a directive on improving the
portability of supplementary pension rights. The Directive was
originally proposed in 2005 but subsequently underwent years of
amendment.
The statutory pension rights of people working in another Member
State have been protected for a number of years. An equivalent
protection for occupational or supplementary pension arrangements
has never, however, been established. Individuals who move between
Member States can potentially lose their pension entitlements under
these arrangements due to long qualifying or "vesting"
periods. The proposed Directive as agreed will require Member
States to implement minimum requirements for the acquisition and
preservation of pension rights for people who go to work in another
Member State. Although not obligatory, the Commission expects that
the Member States
