Equal treatment is a fundamental principle of European Union law. But what is the EU system of equal treatment and how should it be applied to pensions and pension providers? And will it help the development of effective EU policies?
On 1 March 2011, the EU Court of Justice’s judgment in the Test Achats case drew immediate and widespread attention to EU equal treatment policy in relation to gender and insurance outside the workplace. Although the Test Achats judgment overturned part of an EU law that allowed limited gender-based pricing, the reasoning on equal treatment used by the Court is exactly the same as it has applied to economic ‘level playing field’ disputes between producers in industrial sectors. It is also applicable to the current EU review of the IORP Directive.
The ongoing EU review of the IORP directive is intended in part to ensure consistency in the regulatory treatment of different types of pension provider, including between insurers and occupational pension funds, and ‘consistency’ here means ‘equal treatment.’ EU laws on pension provision must also ensure equal treatment between providers. Given this obligation to ensure equal treatment, EIOPA’s response to the European Commission’s Call for Advice on the review of the IORP directive may result in some very new approaches to achieving consistency in a Europe of diverse pension systems.
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