The European Commission has confirmed that automatic enrolment into contract-based pension schemes - such as Group Personal Pensions - from 2012 is consistent with EU law.
Under current Government plans, auto-enrolment into such schemes would be necessary if employers wished to continue the scheme as an alternative to personal accounts. It was feared the European Distance Marketing Directive and Unfair Commercial Practices Directive may have prevented auto-enrolment, but the EC says they will not. Critics said the forced closure of contract-based schemes would have resulted in many millions being worse off in retirement, which would have been counterproductive to the Government’s aim to increase pension saving. Pension providers welcomed the announcement. ...
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