EU workers moving to a different EU country will be able to take their full pension rights with them thanks to a draft law passed by the European Parliament. It still needs to be formally approved by the Council of Ministers.

“The text represents a genuine improvement for many workers. It is a big step forwards for the free movement of workers and a boost for a social Europe,” said rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruijten, adding that “a good pension is a necessity, now that Europeans can expect to live much longer.”

Current EU rules ensure that workers moving to another EU country do not lose their statutory pension rights, i.e. those provided by the state.

However, no such EU-wide rules exist for supplementary pension schemes, financed or co-financed by employers. So people who move between member states risk losing entitlements built up over a period that is not deemed long enough by the state to which they move.

Under the new legislation, the “vesting period,” i.e. the period of active membership of a scheme needed for a person to keep supplementary pension entitlements, must not exceed three years.

MEPs inserted a clause stipulating that cross-border workers must also benefit from the same level of protection under the directive, which member states will have four years to put into effect.

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