Before you lies the book EU Pension Law. This is a new field of law and it foresees in a growing need for universities and practice throughout the EU.

Pension law is approached mainly from a national point of view. An EU point of view is lacking. The book tries to shed some light on a number of important pension issues that should be approached from an EU perspective.

It discusses the most important financial EU legislation (IORP and PEPP) and non-financial legislation (such as the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union [CFR]) and how it has consequences for pensions.

EU Pension Law comprises a plethora of legal fields, such as financial law, company law, competition law, etc.

We therefore needed to make a selection. This book deals with the following – we believe the most important – issues:

• – The EU competences in the field of pensions

• – The IORP I and II Directives

• – Compulsory membership in an IORP

• – Application of EU law on pensions: The property issue

• – The PEPP

The EU competences in the field of pensions

Pension is often perceived as a national competence. This chapter sets out the fact that numerous EU laws give the EU competence to regulate national pension systems.

The central question in this chapter is how the institutional system of the EU affects the regulation of pensions at the EU level. First, the powers of the EU to regulate pensions and the way in which these are defined and limited will be examined. This involves the principles of conferred powers, subsidiarity and proportionality which establish and regulate the exercise of EU legislative powers. The second part of this chapter addresses the EU legislative system with its distinction between legislative, delegated and implementing acts. Each of these acts has individual characteristics, defining the specific powers and roles of the EU institutions and the matter such acts may cover. The impact thereof on EU pensions legislation will be assessed.

The IORP I and II Directives

n 2003, the European legislature issued a directive on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs).