Business · Economy · 11 hrs ago
Dutch workers abroad struggle to track pensions across EU countries
More Dutch people live or work in other EU countries, building up pension rights in more than one place.
There is no central service that gathers all those pension claims, and different countries calculate pension amounts in different ways.
About 18,000 retired members of Dutch fund APB have not claimed their money, including people living abroad.
People who move between countries for work may face a greater risk of pension poverty, even when they have savings they could claim.
A planned EU platform called Find Your Pension aims to show people where they have pensions and how to claim them, but the Netherlands has not joined.
Dutch law must change to allow safe data sharing, according to the Social Affairs and Employment Ministry.
Joining before 2028 is considered unlikely.
More Dutch people who have lived or worked in other EU countries have pension rights in multiple countries, but cannot see them all in one place.
There is no institution that collects all their pension claims, and pension amounts shown in national portals may be calculated differently.
People may lose track of pensions built up abroad, while pension funds can face legal limits on tracing former members.
An EU platform called Find Your Pension aims to show where people have pensions, how much they have and how to claim them.
The Netherlands is not yet part of the platform, and joining before 2028 is considered unlikely.
- Who
- Dutch people and other workers who have built up pension rights in more than one EU country.
- What
- They struggle to find and understand their total pension entitlements because there is no shared system covering all their pensions.
- When
- The issue is growing as more people work or live in different EU countries. Joining the EU platform before 2028 is considered unlikely.
- Where
- The Netherlands and other EU countries.
- Why
- Pension information is held in separate national systems, and privacy rules restrict data sharing. The article says Dutch law must be changed to allow secure data sharing.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
People who move between EU countries can build up pension rights in several national systems.
The EU is working on Find Your Pension, a platform intended to gather people’s pension information in one place.
Dutch participation in Find Your Pension is considered unlikely.
- Platform
- Find Your Pension
- Dutch participation
- The Netherlands is not yet connected to Find Your Pension
- Pension claims
- About 18,000 retired participants of pension fund APB are not claiming their money
- Sectors with frequent moves
- Construction, hospitality and transport
- Possible joining date
- Before 2028 is considered unlikely
What people are saying
It is super complicated
For migrant workers, this is a major challenge. That is already a large group, which will grow enormously in the coming years
That is why member states themselves must realise that it is important for citizens to have insight into their old-age provision and join the portal
really as soon as possible