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Official Journal EN
of the European Union L series
2025/2384 27.11.2025
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION(EU) 2025/2384
of 20 November 2025
on pension tracking systems, pension dashboards and auto-enrolment
(notified under document C(2025) 9300)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 292 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) The report of the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of 10 September 2025 on
facilitating the financing of investments and reforms to boost European competitiveness and creating a Capital
Markets Union (Draghi Report) (2024/2116(INI)) emphasises that pensions help protect pensioners, build capital
markets and mobilise investment, and specifically urges the Commission to ensure that all Member States introduce
simple and transparent pension tracking systems.
(2) The Eurogroup in inclusive format in March 2024 invited (i) Member States to assess the availability of products for
their citizens in the occupational pensions market and to share best practices, including on how to improve citizens’
enrolment in occupational pensions; (ii) the European Commission to inform Member States’ efforts by identifying
and proposing best practices; (iii) Member States to develop pension tracking systems to provide their citizens with
an overview of future retirement income; and (iv) the European Commission to develop a pension dashboard in
collaboration with the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and Member States.
(3) The Statement of the Euro summit of April 2024, called on all Member States and EU institutions to ensure the swift
implementation of all the measures outlined in the statement of the Eurogroup in inclusive format mentioned above.
(4) The European Commission Communication of 19 March 2025 on ‘Savings and Investments Union: A Strategy to
Foster Citizens’ Wealth and Economic Competitiveness in the EU’ sets out the Commission’s commitment to
promote the use of and best practices for pensions tracking systems, pension dashboards and auto-enrolment to
increase people’s awareness about their expected retirement income so that they can better prepare for retirement.
Such tools would contribute to unlocking greater scale and depth of occupational pensions markets, which would
benefit not only people, but the Union economy at large;
(5) The special report of the European Court of Auditors on supplementary pensions of May 2025 recommends that the
Commission improve the transparency of data on pension gaps, both for individuals and at country level, by
advancing its policy action on pension tracking systems and dashboards.
(6) The December 2019 report of the High-level group of experts on pensions advised Member States to take a long-term
and comprehensive approach to developing multi-tier pension systems, and provided recommendations to the EU
institutions, Member States, pension providers and social partners on how to accomplish this.
(7) The June 2020 report of the High-level forum on the Capital Markets Union warns that pension inadequacy risks
pose political and budgetary challenges for Member States, and recommends that the Commission (i) develop a
dashboard to measure Member States’ progress on pension adequacy and sustainability; (ii) encourage the
development of pension tracking systems for individuals; and (iii) support the introduction of auto-enrolment
systems to ensure adequate pension coverage across all Member States.
(8) The 2021 study on best practices on auto-enrolment conducted on behalf of the European Commission, and the
technical advice of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority on best practices for pension
tracking systems and pension dashboards, along with its additional technical input of September 2025 to the
reviews that were conducted as part of the Savings and Investments Union, provided further input in these areas.
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(9) The 2024 Pension Adequacy Report, jointly prepared by the European Commission and the Social Protection
Committee, and the 2024 Ageing Report which projects age-related public expenditure over the next decades,
jointly prepared by the European Commission and the Economic Policy Committee, inform the Commission about
current and future pension adequacy and key challenges across the EU, and the sustainability of public finances,
respectively.
(10) Principle 15 of the European Pillar of Social Rights stipulates that workers and the self-employed have the right to a
pension commensurate to their contributions and ensuring an adequate income, and women and men shall have
equal opportunities to acquire pension rights.
(11) The Council Recommendation of 8 November 2019(1) on access to social protection for workers and the self-
employed includes a recommendation for Member States to ensure the transparency of the conditions and rules for
social protection schemes, and that individuals have access to updated, comprehensive, user-friendly and clearly
understandable information about individual entitlements and obligations free of charge. Member States are also
recommended to simplify, where necessary, the administrative requirements for workers, the self-employed and
employers to access and benefit from social protection.
(12) As low financial literacy and cognitive and behavioural biases can hamper retirement planning, measures for the
promotion of financial education and pension transparency are necessary. The Eurobarometer of July 2023 revealed
such biases in a significant share of the population. The Council Conclusions of 14 May 2024 called on Member
States and the Commission to take wide-ranging measures to increase financial literacy in the EU, including to enable
people to prepare and invest for the future. As a response to this call, on 30 September 2025 the Commission
published a strategy on financial literacy setting out initiatives that aim to empower people to make more informed
decisions as regards long-term planning including retirement planning.
(13) Alongside financial education measures, effective information tools will need to be made available to enable people to
engage in financial planning for retirement. Many Europeans lack data and tools to keep track of their pension
entitlements, which are increasingly spread across different schemes and – increasingly – countries, creating
challenge in making informed decisions about career, retirement and savings needs. Raising awareness on the impact
of career choices, such as career breaks and part-time employment, on retirement age and savings would enable
beneficiaries, especially women, to take well-informed decisions. A national pension tracking system (PTS), a digital
tool providing a consolidated overview of accrued entitlements and, ideally, projected pension benefits from all
sources, can foster transparency and awareness, and build trust in the pension systems, thereby enabling individuals
to better assess the future adequacy of their retirement income and make informed decisions. While most Member
States have dedicated online information platforms for pension entitlements, these are often limited to public
pensions and lack comprehensive coverage of supplementary pensions. Only a few Member States currently provide
a PTS that includes comprehensive information about all pillars and providers.
(14) Member States should make a comprehensive PTS available to their population. This is to fill the pension information
gap and empower individuals to assess and, if necessary, enhance their current and future pension income adequacy.
EIOPA’s technical advice includes good practices for the design, governance and implementation of national pension
tracking systems. To be effective, a PTS must feature a user-centric design that accounts for the needs and cognitive
biases of the average individual. This involves presenting information in a simple and understandable way, using
plain language, and employing a multi-layered approach where essential information is prioritised on a landing page.
Detailed information on future benefits should also be provided to users that wish to delve deeper. Member States
should also ensure that their PTS complies with the requirements of the European Accessibility Act (Directive
(EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council(2)) and the Web Accessibility Directive (Directive
(EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council(3)).
(1) Council Recommendation of 8 November 2019 on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed (OJ C 387,
15.11.2019, p. 1).
(2) Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for
products and services (OJ L 151, 7.6.2019, p. 70, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/882/oj).
(3) Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and
mobile applications of public sector bodies (OJ L 327, 2.12.2016, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/2102/oj).
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(15) The European Commission is supporting the development of the European Tracking Service (ETS) – a pan-European
platform intended to serve as a central hub, connecting the various national PTS across the EU. The ETS should
enable mobile workers to obtain an overview of their pension entitlements, regardless of the Member State in which
they were accrued. A prerequisite for effective cross-border pension tracking is that the national PTS are set up and
designed, or adapted, to be technically interoperable and authorised to share data with the ETS.
(16) Demographic trends, the impact of technological developments on employment, and new forms of work are posing
increasing challenges to the adequacy and sustainability of pension systems across the EU. The average public
pension in the EU as a percentage of average gross wage is set to decrease in the next decades. However, there are
notable differences across the EU in the structure of pension systems, and in pension entitlements between different
age groups, genders, sectors, earning levels, career durations and paths. This implies uneven pension adequacy across
the population.
(17) In the face of demographic pressure, most Member States have reformed their pension systems, which in many cases
may lead to lower public pension replacement rates. Despite several sustainability-enhancing reforms, public pension
systems in many Member States remain under pressure. In the meantime, occupational and personal pension
schemes are playing an increasing role in supplementing public ones to ensure that pensioners will have an adequate
retirement income, while maintaining the sustainability of the system. However, supplementary pensions have
remained underdeveloped in many Member States, and their coverage varies across the population due to a
combination of factors such as differences in saving capacity, insufficient financial literacy and transparency, and lack
of trust in the supplementary pension sector’s capacity to deliver net real growth of savings. Access to occupational
pensions hinges on the type of employment contract, the employment sector, the size of the employer, as well as on
the strength of collective bargaining systems and social dialogue in this regard. Efforts should be made to facilitate
access to supplementary pensions through a comprehensive approach that caters to different groups of the
population.
(18) As the responsibility to organise pension systems lies with Member States, this Recommendation is intended to
provide guidance on the introduction and, where relevant and necessary, the review of pension tracking systems,
pension dashboards, and auto-enrolment frameworks. The objective is to increase individuals’ awareness about their
expected overall retirement income stemming from all pension pillars, and help them prepare better for retirement,
and to improve the ability of Member States to assess and review the sustainability and adequacy of their pension
systems, including across different demographic groups. The Recommendation considers the views and advice from
stakeholders gathered through consultations, and evidence on the socioeconomic impacts of pension tracking
systems, pensions dashboards, and auto-enrolment.
(19) In several Member States, social partners play a fundamental role in the governance and design of occupational
pension funds, in the exercise of their autonomy and collective bargaining prerogatives. This model of shared
responsibility, grounded in social dialogue, has proven highly effective in ensuring the provision of robust
occupational retirement. It has been shown to foster ownership by workers and employers, and to enhance the long-
term sustainability, adequacy, efficiency and transparency of occupational pension funds, as well as their alignment
with the economic and social interests of both workers and employers. In some Member States where occupational
pension schemes are less developed, employers match their workers’ contributions to their personal pensions. This
contribution is reflected in the pay package of workers, and serves to enhance pension income.
(20) Communication to the public on pensions’ reform needs and their impacts can only be credible if it is objective and
based on reliable data. When long-term pension reforms are designed, it is crucial that Member States are able to
base policy decisions on comprehensive and sufficiently forward-looking information on both public and
supplementary pensions. However, while most Member States collect statistics on supplementary pension funds and
their members, in addition to extensive data on public pensions, only few have data and tools to systematically
monitor the overall adequacy and sustainability of their multi-pillar pension systems.
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(21) The purpose of pension dashboards is to help Member States monitor changes in pension coverage, adequacy and
sustainability across their multi-pillar systems and to enable them to support their pension reforms with accurate
and trustworthy data. Such a comprehensive overview would enable Member States to design comprehensive
pension and social reforms while guaranteeing fiscal sustainability and adequacy and facilitate an objective public
debate about reform needs and impacts.
(22) When developing such dashboards, EIOPA suggests using the same indicators as in the triennial Ageing and Pension
Adequacy reports, respectively, and in the annual Debt Sustainability Monitor of the European Commission. These
indicators would need to be complemented with key information on the contribution of occupational and personal
pensions to both adequacy and sustainability. Coverage and accuracy of pension data could be improved over time if
the various national authorities involved in the supervision of pension providers collect relevant data and ensure that
it feeds into a central data hub. Relevant data would relate to disaggregated information on contributions and accrued
claims of both future and current pensioners. Member States could also benefit from exchanging good practices on
the prioritisation and collection of data.
(23) Information on factors such as assets, liabilities, contributions, returns and fees, as well as on the gender and age-
structure of beneficiaries of supplementary pensions, would increase the accuracy of projections. Member States are
encouraged to improve their data on and monitoring of supplementary pensions, and to work with the Commission
and other Member States to create a tool that provides a comprehensive overview of the current and future adequacy
and sustainability of pension systems. Using the same definitions and classifications as in the Ageing report and the
Pension Adequacy report, respectively, would enable the comparability of data made available on Member States’
pension dashboards. The working groups preparing these reports could develop further definitions, assumptions,
methodologies, guidance and taxonomies if needed, ensuring that the reporting burden is minimal. In line with the
task assigned to the European Commission and Member States by the Eurogroup in inclusive format, the
compilation of national pension indicators in an EU pension dashboard would allow Member States to compare
their national pension performance with that of other Member States, and take inspiration from good practices
leading to high pension adequacy and fiscal sustainability.
(24) Despite the projected decline in pension adequacy should the policy remain unchanged, the low participation in
voluntary supplementary pension schemes and the relatively modest amount saved by households in long-term
savings and investment products – compared to their financial wealth saved as bank deposits – highlight that
existing incentives are not sufficiently compelling to prompt action by many individuals. Auto-enrolment schemes
can help in this respect.
(25) Auto-enrolment means that individuals are automatically enrolled into a supplementary pension scheme, with the
possibility for them to opt out. It deviates from the opt-in approach that requires an active decision to participate.
Auto-enrolment has proven successful in increasing participation in pension savings in countries where it has been
implemented. It is typically used for occupational pensions, but it can also be envisaged for other situations, for
example for self-employed.
(26) Member States should put the necessary legal framework in place to enable auto-enrolment. To create an enabling
environment, they should at a minimum: (i) determine the population eligible to be enrolled automatically;
(ii) decide on opt-out and re-enrolment windows; (iii) determine the eligible pension schemes; and (iv) design a
default pension plan. Member States would also need to ensure that national competent authorities have the capacity
to supervise how auto-enrolment savings are invested and managed, and to ensure that costs remain proportionate to
the return offered.
(27) Auto-enrolment mechanisms should be introduced in a way that preserves the integrity of well-functioning national
public or supplementary pension schemes. They should not disadvantage participants in existing occupational
pension schemes, weaken mandatory participation of workers in occupational schemes where such mandatory
participation exists, or undermine the national solidarity mechanisms. Experiences from various countries revealed
design features that influence the effectiveness of auto-enrolment. To foster uptake and ensure the success of auto-
enrolment, Member States are encouraged to learn from these best practices and adapt them, where necessary, to
their country-specific conditions.
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(28) To improve pension adequacy and address pension gaps between different population groups, employment sectors
and types of employment contract, the population eligible for auto-enrolment should be as broad as possible.
(29) Past experience has shown that auto-enrolment is more effective in increasing participation in supplementary
pensions if its implementation allows for sufficient time for information dissemination, a broad consultation of
social partners and stakeholders such as financial intermediaries, and for designing effective communication
campaigns to inform the public. Synergies with pension tracking systems and financial education and awareness
programmes could improve the understanding of prospective members. To ensure learning experiences and reduce
adjustment burden, Member States could consider phasing in auto-enrolment in stages, for example, by gradually
targeting specific types of employers and eligible people, or by allowing for an increase in contribution rates over
time. Starting from a relatively low contribution rate, which gradually increases over time to the level necessary to
achieve the pension adequacy target, could also help create acceptance and limit the number of opt-outs, especially
in the initial stages of its implementation.
(30) Employers wishing or obliged to initiate auto-enrolment, especially relatively smaller ones, may face administrative
and operational challenges in enrolling workers into existing supplementary pension schemes or setting up their
own occupational pension schemes. Member States should therefore consider providing employers with
administrative support, where appropriate in cooperation with social partners.
(31) For workers, participating in supplementary pensions can imply a reduction in their current disposable income, in
exchange for a higher income upon retirement. This may be burdensome, especially for low-wage earners and
younger workers, potentially causing higher opt-outs and lower participation rates among these groups. Member
States should consider targeted tax incentives, or subsidies, that make it affordable for these groups to participate
and remain in auto-enrolment schemes., For these incentives to be effective, they must be underpinned by
transparent communication and clear, simple procedures. Member States could also consider more generally to
introduce tax incentives to encourage a broad uptake of supplementary pensions, in particular for the groups
mentioned above. They are also strongly encouraged to design any tax incentives in a judicious and cost-effective
way, taking into account their fiscal implications and their impact on other tools such as savings and investment
accounts. Where Member States decide to offer tax and other benefits to encourage the uptake of supplementary
pension products, they shall publish detailed information on the impact of tax expenditure on revenues in
accordance with their information obligations under Article 14 of Council Directive 2011/85/EU(4), as amended by
Council Directive (EU) 2024/1265(5).
(32) The structure of the job market varies significantly both within and between Member States. Permanent full-time
contracts coexist with non-standard contracts and self-employment. The income of people in the latter two
employment categories may vary over time and can be subject to frequent interruptions, which means that they may
not be well-suited to contributing regularly to a pension scheme. To ensure that all people are given the opportunity
to supplement their statutory pensions and can benefit from auto-enrolment mechanisms, Member States should
consider granting these two categories special treatment or tailored arrangements, for example greater flexibility on
the frequency and amount of their contributions to supplementary pension schemes.
(33) Since not all population groups may consider it convenient or affordable to commit to paying certain contributions
into supplementary pensions, they could benefit from opt-out and re-enrolment windows. This would give them the
option to exit from, and respectively to re-join, auto-enrolment schemes at a later stage. Having this option would
increase acceptance of and trust in the system. Member States could decide on the frequency of those windows with
a view to balancing the objective of maximising participation and stability of the system with that of providing
people with choices. Member States are recommended to establish clear criteria for eligibility and well-designed opt-
out and re-enrolment possibilities.
(4) Council Directive 2011/85/EU of 8 November 2011 on requirements for budgetary frameworks of the Member States (OJ L 306,
23.11.2011, p. 41, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2011/85/oj).
(5) Council Directive (EU) 2024/1265 of 29 April 2024 amending Directive 2011/85/EU on requirements for budgetary frameworks of
the Member States (OJ L, 2024/1265, 30.4.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1265/oj).
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(34) Some people may lack the information and financial skills necessary for making decisions on long-term investments.
They may also find it difficult to choose between different investment profile options, which each provide a different
combination of expected return and risk. To avoid overwhelming people with too many and too complex decisions
in the auto-enrolment process, Member States should offer default solutions along with limited number of options
for elements such as contribution rates, eligible investment plans or products, investment strategies and pay-out
arrangements, while ensuring the achievement of adequate retirement income and pension adequacy goals, as
experience shows that most workers who are auto-enrolled tend to accept and stick with default offers.
(35) In particular, when having to choose between different investment profiles, given the importance of pension income
for social protection, many people would tend to select conservative investment profiles, often with some form of
capital protection. However, depending on how it is designed, such capital protection may be expensive and limit the
potential upside in the value of pension savings over long investment periods. Life-cycle investment strategies, that
change the allocation from riskier to more conservative investments as participants approach retirement provide
upside potential while featuring embedded risk-mitigation and can fit most participants’ needs. Member States are
recommended to consider these investment strategies as the candidate of choice for default plans. However,
participants should also be given the opportunity to choose other options or shift to different investment strategies
over their career.
(36) To improve pension adequacy and taking into consideration the different points in time in a person’s career or life
when he or she may be enrolled in or have re-opted into supplementary pension schemes people should be given the
opportunity to top up minimum contributions with voluntary payments.
(37) The landscape of supplementary pension products and other retirement savings varies significantly across the EU,
and it extends beyond occupational pension schemes administered by Institutions for Occupational Retirement
Provision (IORPs) that are regulated at EU level. In several Member States workplace retirement plans also take the
form of insurance products and personal pension products, and in a few Member States the pan-European personal
pension product (PEPP) has been used by some cross-border companies to provide their workers with a retirement
plan. All such schemes involve shared contributions by employers and workers. Member States should ensure that
any solution chosen as eligible for auto-enrolment can generate benefits for savers in the long term. To this end, it is
advisable that Member States select pension products eligible for auto-enrolment based on their potential to meet
the desired policy objectives, in consultation with social partners and interested providers where appropriate.
Moreover, when granting tax incentives and/or subsidies to employers and workers, Member States should grant the
same tax incentives and subsidies for any comparable product. Member States should remove tax and other national
barriers to facilitate the cross-border investment and operation of pension funds, thereby promoting greater
integration of the EU pension market, to better reflect the single market dimension.
(38) To maximise coverage, default plans should be open to all workers and self-employed, including those working in
economic sectors or categories that are not covered by occupational pension schemes established under social
partners’ agreements. Workers may change jobs throughout their career, moving between economic sectors or cross-
border, or working under different types of contracts that may not be covered by a supplementary pension plan.
Member States should consider whether these individuals should continue contributing to the pension plan in which
they were previously enrolled, or whether they should enrol in a default pension plan or in any other eligible pension
product of choice. In the latter case, Member States should consider whether workers should have the right to move
pension entitlements to the new scheme and, if so, under what conditions.
(39) Member States should periodically assess how well the auto-enrolment framework is working and should put in place
an adequate supervision mechanism for eligible products or vehicles and their providers. Supervisors should have the
capacity to monitor the performance of relevant retirement saving vehicles, and the powers to intervene when
necessary and at an early stage to ensure that supplementary pension schemes are effective in improving retirement
income and that the rights of participants are preserved over time. Effective supervision can increase trust in the
system and reduce opt-outs.
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(40) In some countries it has been made mandatory for employers to auto-enrol their workers. Some countries that have
introduced this measure have set up a public body that is responsible for administering pension savings and plays a
role in the investment of the pension savings. These measures have the potential to significantly boost participation.
Member States should assess whether they meet the necessary conditions to implement such measures effectively.
(41) This Recommendation does not affect the competences of Member States to organise and design their national
pension systems. This Recommendation does not limit the autonomy of the social partners where they are
responsible for establishing and managing pension schemes. Therefore, this Recommendation should not affect
national social and labour law on the organisation of pension systems and collective bargaining systems,
HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:
Article 1
Subject matter
1. This Recommendation concerns the enhancement of pension systems through the development of pension tracking
systems for individuals, pension dashboards, and the implementation of auto-enrolment in supplementary pension
schemes. It encompasses measures to support people in making informed decisions when planning their retirement
savings, and to support Member States in making informed decisions on pension adequacy and sustainability. It also sets
out measures to increase pension adequacy and sustainability via larger participation in supplementary pension schemes.
2. This Recommendation does not affect the right of Member States to determine the fundamental principles of their
social protection systems, including pension systems, and the diverse forms of national practices in the field of labour
relations and social dialogue.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Recommendation, the following definitions apply:
(1) Statutory pensions are pension schemes based on legislation, administered by the general government;
(2) Supplementary pensions means occupational and personal pension schemes, generally providing additional
retirement income to the statutory pensions;
(3) Occupational pensions are collective pension schemes linked to an employment relationship, typically based on
contractual agreements between employers and employees, or linked to a professional activity;
(4) Personal pension plans are retirement savings vehicles typically based on a contract between an individual saver and a
financial service provider for the explicit objective of providing income in retirement;
(5) A pension tracking system (PTS) is a digital tool, typically a secure web portal or mobile application, that provides
individuals with an overview of their individual accrued pension entitlements, and projections of future benefits,
across the pension schemes of which the individual is a member or a beneficiary;
(6) A pension dashboard provides Member States with a comprehensive overview of their pension systems, covering
indicators about current and future pension entitlements at the aggregate level of the Member State and for all
sources of retirement income, specifically statutory, occupational and personal pensions, with the purpose of
enabling them to identify gaps in pension adequacy and sustainability;
(7) Auto-enrolment means that people are automatically signed up to supplementary pension plans and given the option
to opt out within specified timeframes;
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(8) Pension adequacy refers to the objectives of ensuring that pension systems (i) protect older people from poverty;
(ii) maintain income levels when retiring; (iii) allow people to spend a reasonable share of life in retirement.
Supplementary pensions primarily contribute to the second objective, income maintenance.
Article 3
Adjustment to national conditions
Without affecting existing practices in labour relations and social dialogue or Member States’ competences to organise and
design their national pension systems, when implementing the actions outlined in this Recommendation, Member States
are recommended to involve and consult, as appropriate, social partners and relevant stakeholders, such as pension
providers and organisations representing beneficiaries, according to the established national practice and the structure of
the national pension system. Member States are also encouraged to learn from good practices applied in other Member
States and to adapt these practices as needed to suit national conditions.
CHAPTER I
PENSION MONITORING TOOLS
SECTION I
Pension tracking
Article 4
Establishment of a comprehensive pension tracking system
1. The European Commission recommends that Member States establish a pension tracking system (PTS). The PTS
should be a single nationwide service accessible to all individuals free of charge, providing them with an overview of their
individual accrued pension entitlements across the different schemes that they are or have been enrolled in. The PTS
should cover statutory pensions, occupational pension schemes and personal pension products where applicable, through
gradual extension of its scope if needed. Furthermore, to empower individuals in their financial planning, the service
should provide projections of potential future retirement income from all their pension schemes.
2. The PTS interface should be user-friendly. It should take into account the needs of different age groups, and provide
clear and understandable information adapted to the needs of the average user. Member States should consider the use of a
multi-layered interface, starting with displaying the most essential information on pension entitlements and simple
projections of future benefits, and offering more detailed information on demand. The more detailed information could
include, for example, different projection scenarios based on career assumptions. In addition, Member States should
conduct regular user testing to refine the user experience.
3. Member States should take account of the varying level of digital skills between different population groups. Where
necessary, they should provide complementary non-digital information and in-person services, ensuring access to core
pension information for those who do not use digital tools, including people with disabilities that have accessibility
requirements. This could be done for example through telephone support, mail or physical appointment.
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Article 5
Governance and funding
1. Member States should establish a clear governance structure for the PTS based on the principles of non-profit
operation, independence, credibility, and transparency, which could be achieved for instance through a public entity or a
public-private partnership.
2. Member States, in cooperation with the pension industry/stakeholders/providers where relevant, should secure
sustainable funding for the set-up and ongoing operation of the PTS.
Article 6
Data security and interoperability
1. Member States should determine the data exchange model to be used for their national PTS. They should establish a
mandatory and comprehensive security and privacy framework to ensure a secure, unique and user-friendly digital
identification method for authenticating users, and guarantee a high level of protection of citizens’ personal data.
2. When designing their national PTS, Member States should ensure that their technical infrastructure and legal
framework, including for data sharing, are compatible with a future connection to the European Tracking Service (ETS),
thereby supporting EU cross-border labour mobility and cross-border exchange of individual pension data/information.
For this, Member States should make use of the best practices and experience of existing ETS members.
SECTION II
Pension dashboards
Article 7
Establishment of comprehensive pension dashboards
1. Member States are recommended to set up comprehensive national pension dashboards to systematically monitor
over time the overall adequacy and sustainability of their multi-pillar pension systems as well as pension gaps. For this
purpose, Member States should collect and make publicly available aggregated data on the contribution of both public and
supplementary pensions to the adequacy of retirement income and the sustainability of their pension system.
2. Member States are recommended to make use of data already reported to public bodies, such as the periodic
information pension funds report to supervisors or statistical offices, use synergies with pension tracking systems and
apply proportionality in the data selection when aiming to close data gaps and improve accuracy.
3. In collecting relevant information, Member States should ensure that the confidentiality of supervisory data and the
protection of personal data of supplementary pension schemes’ participants are preserved.
4. Member States are encouraged to exchange practices with other Member States and the European Commission to
identify relevant dimensions and ways to obtain information without creating an unnecessary reporting burden.
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Article 8
Dashboard indicators
1. Member States are recommended to collect information about the number of members of supplementary pension
schemes, their contributions and accrued claims broken down into defined contribution and defined benefit schemes/
products, the liabilities and assets connected to pension schemes, their investment returns, costs and charges,
contributions and benefits for the aggregate of these vehicles, as well as per type of pension.
2. Member States are recommended to identify relevant pension statistics that can help monitor poverty risks across
demographic groups, changes in income distribution across age brackets and gender categories, changes in actual
retirement ages across income brackets, and the fiscal costs of tax incentives and subsidies related to pensions.
3. To inform the assessment and review of existing frameworks and any planned policy measures, Member States are
invited to make projections of pension adequacy and sustainability metrics over a reasonable future time period.
Article 9
Exchange of data with the European Commission
1. Member States are recommended to communicate pension statistics to the European Commission in aggregated
form. They are encouraged to work with the European Commission in establishing common methodologies, to ensure that
this aggregated data is comparable.
2. The European Commission recommends to all Member States to deliver projections of contributions to and
expenditures on occupational and personal private pensions for the Ageing Report of the European Commission and the
Economic Policy Committee, and data on the contribution of occupational and personal pensions to retirement incomes
for the Report on Adequate Social Protection in Old Age of the European Commission and the Social Protection
Committee, using commonly agreed definitions, methodologies and economic assumptions.
CHAPTER II
AUTO-ENROLMENT
Article 10
Enabling auto-enrolment
1. Member States should enable and promote the introduction of automatic enrolment in supplementary pension
schemes, in accordance with national circumstances, while respecting the role and autonomy of social partners.
2. Auto-enrolment should be introduced in a way that preserves the integrity of well-functioning public or
supplementary pension schemes. It should not disadvantage participants in existing occupational pension schemes,
weaken mandatory participation of workers in occupational schemes where such mandatory participation exists, or
undermine the national solidarity mechanisms.
3. Enabling measures, such as the creation of a legal basis in national law, should be accompanied by measures that
determine who is eligible for enrolment, who can initiate the enrolment, and which type of pension fund or pension
product can be used such as existing and – under certain conditions – new occupational schemes, available personal
pension products and Pan-European personal pension products (PEPPs).
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4. Member States should also introduce safeguards that ensure that the supplementary pension schemes have the
potential to – and effectively do – generate benefits for savers in the long term. To that end, they should place entities or
providers of pension products under supervision and equip supervisors with the capacity and powers to monitor the cost-
effectiveness of the relevant supplementary pension schemes and to intervene when necessary to ensure they provide value
for money.
Article 11
Use of good practices for auto-enrolment
1. Member States are recommended to use good practices in the introduction phase. Good practices include extensive
consultation with social partners and relevant stakeholders, effective information campaigns and continuous transparency
measures. Member States may also consider phasing in auto-enrolment in stages, for example by gradually targeting
specific types of employers and eligible individuals, or by starting with lower contribution rates that would increase
subsequently, thereby allowing an individual to build up a significant contribution to their retirement income without
endangering the affordability of being enrolled.
2. Member States are recommended to cater for well-designed opt-out and re-enrolment possibilities, the frequency of
which would be established with a view to balancing the objective of maximising participation and stability of the system
with that of granting choices to individuals.
3. To avoid overwhelming people with numerous and complex decisions in the auto-enrolment process, as good
practice Member States should provide a limited number of options for elements such as contribution rate, eligible
investment plans or products, investment strategies and pay-out arrangements. Members and, where relevant, employers,
should be allowed to top up with additional contributions over the minimum. Options on investment strategies should
cater for different attitudes towards risk, so that individuals do not opt out because they find the default option too risky or
too conservative, while individuals willing to accept certain risks are offered possibilities to do so. Life-cycle strategies could
be promoted as good practice to cater for changing exposure to risk over the accumulation phase. Pay-out arrangements
would ideally include options for savers to decide between receiving either a life-long annuity or a one-time pay-out of the
accrued funds, or combinations of both, without affecting existing national provisions.
4. Member States should ensure that people are provided with default options that apply if participants are unable or
unwilling to make a choice. The default options should be clear, and designed to ensure long-term stability for and
suitability to the largest group of participants, while ensuring an adequate retirement income down the line. Member
States could consider promoting life-cycle strategies as the default option for asset allocation.
5. Member States are invited to ensure that access to auto-enrolment is broad and inclusive. Auto-enrolment should be
suitable for different career patterns, involve fair treatment of career breaks – thereby providing equal opportunities for
men and women, and benefit people at different stages of their career. Member States should consider adopting good
practices such as lump-sum subsidies to support affordability for people on low incomes, tax incentives to incentivise large
take-up, care pension credits thereby helping to close the gender pension gap, options to top up contributions, flexibility on
contribution levels or interruptions for people with atypical work contracts and for care-givers, and appropriate conditions
for early withdrawal in the case of individual needs.
Article 12
Specific provisions for auto-enrolment in an employment context
1. Member States are recommended to establish criteria on the eligibility of workers that foster a broad coverage and
allow an early start, while supporting affordability.
2. Member States are recommended to introduce incentives for employers and administrative support in the
implementation phase to facilitate the enrolment of workers.
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3. Member States should introduce rules on the portability of the claims of auto-enrolled workers, so that these workers
can continue to benefit from their participation when changing employment or discontinuing work. Member States should
avoid a situation where each change of employment leads to enrolment into an additional scheme, as this leads to a
fragmentation of pension claims. This would best be accomplished if workers can continue contributing to previous
schemes or have the possibility to transfer the accrued claims to a new occupational scheme.
4. Member States should grant the self-employed and people with non-standard work contracts the possibility to opt
into existing schemes open to employees with standard contracts, or cater for the possibility to set up separate schemes
tailored to their specific needs. Such possibilities should already be envisaged in the design phase of auto-enrolment, and
should enable greater flexibility for the self-employed and people with non-standard work contracts compared to people
with standard work contracts.
5. Member States should consider how to administer their auto-enrolment system, whether it be through a public body
that provides centralised administrative or organisational support, or by a more decentralised model whereby social
partners, professional organisations or private providers tailor pension schemes to the need of participants.
6. Member States are also invited to consider whether an obligation for employers to enrol their workers would be
suitable for their national context.
Article 13
Tax and other incentives
1. Member States are encouraged to introduce tax and other incentives to encourage the uptake of supplementary
pension products, while duly considering their fiscal implications. These tax incentives should be designed in such a way
that they do not disadvantage individuals in existing occupational or personal pension schemes, including schemes
sponsored by social partners.
2. Member States should ensure that people continue to benefit from tax incentives offered to encourage uptake of
supplementary pension products also after they change jobs or residence cross-border.
3. Such tax incentives could:
(a) allow people to deduct from their taxable income the contribution made to an eligible pension product up to a
maximum annual deductible ceiling;
(b) allow employers to deduct from their taxable income the contributions made for their employees to eligible pension
products up to a maximum annual deductible ceiling.
4. Member States should apply the same tax treatment for any of the supplementary pension products they deem
eligible for auto-enrolment.
CHAPTER III
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 14
Monitoring and reporting
1. Member States are encouraged to exchange experiences and best practices on the actions referred to in this
Recommendation. Discussions could be held, for example, on: common challenges; experiences with the introduction of
auto-enrolment; how to ensure a coordinated approach on the future connectivity of national pension tracking systems
with the European Tracking Service; and how best to work towards comprehensive data submissions covering all pension
pillars for a comparable EU wide pension adequacy and sustainability overview.
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2. Member States are encouraged to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the measures set out in this Recommendation
in increasing participation in supplementary pension schemes and pension transparency.
3. Member States are encouraged to regularly report the measures taken to implement this Recommendation through
the monitoring processes related to the Savings and Investments Union, the Eurogroup’s framework for monitoring
national reforms and exchange of best practices, the European Semester and the European Pillar of Social Rights.
4. The European Commission will also monitor implementation as part of the midterm review of the Savings and
Investments Union strategy, which will be published in 2027.
Article 15
Addressees
This Recommendation is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 20 November 2025.
For the Commission
Maria Luís ALBUQUERQUE
Member of the Commission
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