European Securities and Markets Authority

Key points:

The EESC warmly welcomes the European Commission's Proposal for a Directive amending Directives 2003/71/EC and 2009/138/EC. It supports the Commission's efforts to change sectoral legislation to enable the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) to work effectively.

The EESC underlines the need for the principle of a transition from the current system (Solvency I) to the new system (Solvency II). There should be a smooth transition to the new regime. Market disruption should be avoided by an approach which links supervisory measures to transitional rules in a consistent manner.

The implementation schedule should realistically reflect the capacity of both supervisors and insurance undertakings, including smaller-size companies, to reach the objectives set by the Solvency II directive. The EESC urges the Commission and EIOPA to ensure that the new regime does not lead to any administrative overload and that it is not of an unmanageable complexity, which could have a negative impact on the quality of the service delivered to consumers.

However, the EESC stresses the status of EIOPA as an autonomous body. In its task of contributing to the establishment of a single rule book, EIOPA acts within the mandates as set by the legislative institutions with a political responsibility..