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The inclusion of a new passage on Solvency II in the long-awaited final version of the White Paper caught many in the industry by surprise. In Article 11 of the White Paper, the Commission says it will present a legislative proposal to review the IORP Directive this year. "The aim of the review", it adds, "is to maintain a level playing field with Solvency II and promote more cross-border activity in this field and to help improve overall pension provision in the EU".
But James Walsh, senior policy adviser at the UK National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), told IPE: "There was no surprise to us that the White Paper would make a relatively brief mention to the revised IORP Directive, as all through the review of that Directive, it has been explicit that all the objectives were to bring the IORP Directive more into line with Solvency II. If we want to judge the state of the Commission's thinking on the IORP Directive, we should look at the IORP Directive directly, rather than looking at the White Paper."
In Germany, however, the association of company pension schemes (VFPK) took a somewhat different view, criticising the Commission for offering a "pan-European solution where there was no pan-European problem". The association welcomed the White Paper's recommendations on how to increase the coverage of occupational schemes, but it warned that German companies would be unable to meet capital requirements based Solvency II.
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