The European Commissioner for Financial Services, María Luisa Albuquerque, stated this Monday at the European Forum in Brussels that the two major obstacles facing the Savings and Investment Union project she is trying to promote are the lack of speed when working within the European Union and the excessive zeal when it comes to preserving the diversity of the different countries, for which she called for greater cohesion.
"It is not possible for us to say that the world can change in three months and this could take up to two years", she stated during a meeting organized by the New Economy Forum in the EU capital.
There she recalled that the motto of the European Union is "united in diversity", but lamented that the latter term carries more weight than the former. Albuquerque acknowledged that diversity is a "valuable" characteristic, as total uniformity will never be possible or desirable, but acknowledged that to advance "important" reforms and achieve greater effectiveness, the Union should prioritize collective action and speed, finding a balance between the two.
In this regard, she emphasized the importance of imposing tax changes to incentivize the creation of supplementary pension systems with auto-enrollment, but reiterated that the final decision to implement them rests with the Member States, who have the competence in this matter.
Finally, she emphasized the importance of collaborating with the various social stakeholders to address pension challenges and affirmed that it is "fundamental" to find consensual solutions and involve trade union organizations in this debate, since the reform cannot advance without their participation.
