E-003777/2011

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

The Solvency II package, including the Framework Directive adopted in 2009, the Omnibus 2 Directive currently being negotiated in the European Parliament and the Council, and the Commission's implementing measures, is in the process of being finalised. From the very outset of the process of developing the Solvency II rules, interested stakeholders and in particular the insurance industry have been closely involved in the process.

The Commission would like to refer the Honourable Member to a report published by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) on the results of the fifth Quantitative Impact Study (QIS5) for Solvency II[1]. The results of this study show that the insurance industry is rather well-positioned to meet the new solvency requirements and overall has approximately €360 billion more eligible own funds than the Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR), the higher of the two capital requirements that insurers will be subject to. The Commission would also like to refer to the results of its most recent public consultation regarding the macro-economic impact of Solvency II, the results of which are available on the website of the Directorate-General for the Internal Market and Services.

That said, the Commission acknowledges that there are a certain number of important issues that still need to be addressed. Refinements to the draft legislative measures implementing Directive 2009/138/EC will be made in a number of areas to take into account the QIS5 results. The Commission will also analyse whether further changes are needed to address certain concerns relating to market volatility.

The Commission and EIOPA have established working parties, consisting of representatives from Member States, supervisory authorities and industry in order to develop solutions with respect to the concerns raised by the industry, including with regard to the issue of the ongoing viability of insurance products that offer long-term guarantees. The Commission will certainly continue the dialogue with the insurance industry on this and other matters in order to ensure a smooth entering into force of the Solvency II regime.

 

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