On November 7, representatives of Lithuanian trade unions met with European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque, responsible for financial services, savings, and the Capital Markets Union. The meeting focused on the importance of financial education, private and occupational pension funds, and social dialogue in building a reliable pension accumulation system.
The meeting was attended by Acting Head of Lithuanian Trade Unions Dalia Jakutavičė, Chair of the Lithuanian Trade Union “Solidarumas” Kristina Krupavičienė, her deputy Jovita Pretzsch, and Jūratė Čilinskaitė, representative of the Lithuanian industry Trade Union Federation.
Maria Luís Albuquerque emphasized the importance of dialogue with social partners, particularly in the context of demographic changes and the search for optimal pension system solutions. According to her, financial literacy should be fostered not only through educational initiatives but also by motivating employers to encourage employees’ understanding of personal finance and long-term investment.
Dalia Jakutavičė noted that a large part of the Lithuanian workforce, especially young people, are financially literate and interested in investment opportunities and alternatives. However, decent wages are essential to enable personal investments, which remains a significant challenge. She also stressed the importance of transparency and clarity in the operation of second-pillar pension funds, especially when entering into service agreements with clients – people must know the conditions they are signing up for and the returns they can expect.
“So far, pension funds have lost public trust by not being sufficiently transparent with clients. Therefore, efforts are needed to rebuild this trust – and I believe the European Commission could play an important role by offering Member States concrete tools to ensure greater transparency of pension fund operations and alignment with people’s interests,” said Jakutavičė.
She also pointed out that in Lithuania, the instrument of occupational pension funds has not yet been sufficiently discussed or utilized. Employers lack incentives to establish such funds, and trade unions often lack the expert capacity to further develop this topic.
Commissioner Albuquerque confirmed that the European Commission can issue recommendations to Member States on pension policy matters, however, each country independently decides on its own pension system. She stressed that, given the deteriorating demographic situation in the European Union, it is essential to seek long-term solutions to ensure a sustainable, fair, and people-centered pension system.
Photo from the European Commission archives