Saving for retirement is hard – but the EU can make it easier

Europe’s retirement savings gap is widening. Tax incentives dominate policy but mainly benefit higher earners, leaving younger and lower-income savers behind. Fragmented regimes, rigid products and poor communication further weaken participation.

Automatic enrolment and employer defaults work better than voluntary schemes but their success depends on re-enrolment, contribution escalation and balanced liquidity rules. Savers need flexibility during hardship without undermining long-term goals. Information alone won’t close the gap. Digital tools and personalised advice engage far more effectively than traditional financial education, yet remain underused.

The EU should move from fragmented, finance-heavy strategies to behavioural and inclusive ones: redesign incentives to target those most in need, make defaults persistent, balance access with safeguards, strengthen occupational pensions and scale digital support. Minimum EU standards should guide national strategies without imposing one-size-fits-all solutions.

In short, retirement saving must become easy, fair and resilient – by design.

Marie Brière is Head of the Investor Intelligence and Academic Partnership at Amundi Investment Institute, and Member of the Academic Committee at ECMI. Apostolos Thomadakis is Research Fellow and Head of the Financial Markets and Institutions Unit at CEPS, and Head of Research at ECMI.