One concern is that the current Directive text states that Solvency II will come into effect on 1 November 2012 and, crucially, that Solvency I runs out on the same date. However, new common guidelines in force since 1 March between the Council and the Parliament, will shorten the time scale between the vote in the Plenary and publication in the Official Journal.
Referring to the new arrangement, Sharon Bowles MEP, Chair of the ECON Committee, said: “Under these new common guidelines, we are changing the way in which the lawyer-linguist review is done, so that it is completed before the Plenary vote. This is a better procedure for verification and will mean a shorter time after the vote to publication in the Official Journal."
Ms Bowles explained that there were measures that the Commission could take to avoid any confusion. “For example, the Commission could publish a two-line Directive with the implementing dates for Solvency II.”
A spokesperson for the Commission told Solvency II Wire: “The Commission is committed to working with the co-legislators – the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers – to conclude the trialogue discussions before the summer. The move of the Plenary vote to September has already been anticipated in the planning, and we understand that this is necessary for procedural reasons. All parties remain committed to adopting Solvency II as quickly as possible and to a date of application of 1 January 2014.”
The first trialogue meeting has been provisionally set for 11 April 2012. The Council working group participating in the trialogues will review the text on 2 April 2012. The Omnibus II trialogue discussions are one of about 15 financial services dossiers which the Council will be considering before the end of July 2012. The legislations, including CRD IV, CRA and MiFID, are at various stages of negotiations. A further five dossiers are expected to be added to the list from September.
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© Gideon Benari Solvency II Wire 2012
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