Abstract

This article explores the impact of COVID-19 on the governance of pension policy in the European Union (EU) and investigates the main characteristics of both stability and change in the EU strategies for pension policy. The governance of pensions has attracted the interest of many analysts. Pensions are in fact one of the milestones of the welfare state in EU Member States, while they have been the target of the EU strategy for the retrenchment and modernization of national social policies. The article focuses on three different areas of intervention: the European Semester; the European Pillar of Social Rights; and the Next Generation EU. Drawing from the extensive literature on institutional change, we argue that, whereas significant changes in priorities and instruments have occurred, these have been the result of a process of rapid evolutionary change through layering, suspension, and updating which has resulted in ideational and institutional bricolage. All these changes seem consistent with the potential revision of the EU strategy and priorities in pension policy