The Social Affairs Committee approves the bill implementing the agreement on occupational pensions reached by the Group of Ten
BRUSSELS – The Social Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies has approved the draft bill implementing the agreement on occupational pensions that was reached by the Group of Ten on October 16th last.
In essence, this draft bill includes the following measures:
· The yield guarantee at the expense of employers or sectors will be variable as from 1st January 2016. This will correspond to a percentage – calculated over the last 24 months – of the yields of 10-year Belgian linear government bonds, without yields being permitted to be lower than 1.75% or higher than 3.75%. On the basis of these new rules the applicable interest rate for 2016 will be 1.75%. From now on, this interest rate will be identical for both employer contributions and private contributions.
· In any case employees will be permitted to request the benefit of « coverage for death » if they leave their employers without having transferred the occupational pension reserves. In the event of death this coverage, which they can request within the term of one year, provides for a payment of the acquired reserves to the rightful claimants.
· The payment of the occupational pension reserves will only be made on the date the state pension comes into effect. Nevertheless, employees will be permitted to receive payment as soon as they meet the conditions to take up retirement, even if they continue their professional activities. Moreover, various transitional measures are aimed in particular at the person who will be at least 55 years old in 2016.
· The provisions in occupational pension regulations and contracts encouraging early retirement will be forbidden for employees who will not yet be 55 years old in 2016.
· The retirement age stipulated by the new pension regulations or contracts must not be under 65 (default retirement age).
Minister for Pensions Daniel BACQUELAINE : «The settlement of the issue of the yield guarantee imposed by law constituted a condition to reassure the actors in the field of occupational pensions, being employers, sectors, pension institutions and of course employees. If no agreement had been reached, this would have compromised the development of the second pension pillar.
It was also important to encourage and reinforce the supplementary nature of the second pillar vis-à-vis the first pillar by ensuring a closer link between the occupational pension capital and the date on which the state pension takes effect.
The formalization by means of a bill implementing the agreement reached by the Group of 10 meets these two requirements. Before the end of the year the text will be presented to the Plenary Assembly of the Chamber of Deputies, thereby enabling its coming into effect as from 1st January 2016. »
