EU coordination of pension policy: policy content and influence on national reforms

The chapter aims at providing an overview of EU pension policy with a specific reference to the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) in the field of pensions. Section 1 summarises the key traits of EU direct and indirect forms of coordination of national pensions: the Stability and Growth Pact and OMC on pensions are presented. The main focus is on the policy content of the two pieces of EU socio-economic governance. Section 2 provides a schematic framework for assessing the influence of soft modes of governance on national pension policy. Section 3 presents a brief review of some of the contributions on the assessment of the EU coordination in the field of pensions. Section 4 concludes.