Cross-border pension funds: will IORP 2 help the take-off ?
The first pension fund directive (2003/41/EC), often called «IORP directive», sets out basic requirements for occupational pension funds that are allowed to operate on a cross-border basis.
It is probably not an exaggeration to claim that the 2003 directive was a complete failure as almost no cross-border pension funds have been launched over the last 11 years.
On 24 March 2014, the EU Commission published the draft directive on IORP 2 (COM 2014 final) which is aimed at reviewing IORP 1.
The major question is, whether IORP 2 will be more successful and enable the market for crossborder pensions to take off.