The quality of democracy in our economy depends on the governance of capital, but Europeans are still deprived of real voice over their retirement money: the single biggest source of capital in the 21st century. This paper outlines three major problems facing EU pensions: precarious retirement, escalating inequality, and mounting climate damage. These problems start with the places where we work, the institutions that control our retirement savings, and the votes on shares that come with them. The central argument is that pensions will only be sustainable once they are democratically, prudently, and loyally governed. First, member states have wide experience with co-determination in capital funds, which can inform the basis of minimum standards in EU law for ‘pension fund democracy’. Second, a growing number of investment rules draw upon Member States’ fiduciary duties and standards for prudence or care; but, these do not yet codify the requirement that beneficiaries’ environmental, social, and governance preferences are followed. Third, votes on shares - bought with pension fund assets - are still being cast by banks and asset managers who manage ‘other people’s money’. This is a serious problem because banks and asset managers have interests that systematically conflict with the ultimate investors: they vote in companies on other people’s money and, at the same time, sell financial products (e.g., pensions) to those companies. The problems are soluble with careful amendments to existing policy that ensure elected representatives of pension beneficiaries are the sole determinants of voting policies, with prudence and no conflicts of interest. A draft EU Directive, based upon emerging best practice, is proposed.

我们经济中民主的质量取决于资本的治理，但欧洲人仍然被剥夺了对其退休金的真正发言权：这是 21 世纪最大的单一资本来源。本文概述了欧盟养老金面临的三个主要问题：不稳定的退休、不断升级的不平等和日益严重的气候破坏。这些问题始于我们工作的地方、控制我们退休储蓄的机构以及随之而来的股票投票。核心论点是，养老金只有在民主、谨慎和忠诚的治理下才能可持续。首先，成员国在共同决定资本基金方面拥有广泛的经验，这可以为欧盟法律中“养老基金民主”的最低标准提供依据。第二，越来越多的投资规则借鉴了成员国的信托义务和审慎或谨慎标准；但是，这些还没有将受益人的环境、社会和治理偏好得到遵守的要求编成法典。第三，对用养老基金资产购买的股票的投票仍然由管理“他人资金”的银行和资产管理公司投票。这是一个严重的问题，因为银行和资产管理公司的利益与最终投资者存在系统性冲突：他们用别人的钱投票给公司，同时向这些公司出售金融产品（例如养老金）。The problems are soluble with careful amendments to existing policy that ensure elected representatives of pension beneficiaries are the sole determinants of voting policies, 审慎，无利益冲突。提出了基于新兴最佳实践的欧盟指令草案。