Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/138/EC on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (Solvency II) as regards the dates of its transposition and application and the date of repeal of certain Directives

Directive 2009/138/EC (Solvency II) provides a modern, risk-based system for the regulation and supervision of European insurance and reinsurance undertakings. These new rules are essential in order to ensure a safe and solid insurance sector that can provide sustainable insurance products and support the real economy through long-term investments and additional stability.

The deadline for transposition of Directive 2009/138/EC is 31 October 2012. The existing insurance and reinsurance directives that are collectively referred to as Solvency I will be repealed with effect from 1 November 2012.

On 19 January 2011 the Commission adopted a proposal to amend Directive 2009/138/EC in order to take into account the new supervisory architecture for insurance and namely the setting-up of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) on 1 January 2011 (Omnibus II). The proposal also included provisions to extend the transposition, repeal and application dates in Directive 2009/138/EC. These rules are essential in order to ensure a smooth transition to the new regime.

In addition and in order to become fully operational, the Solvency II regime also requires a high number of delegated and implementing acts by the Commission, providing important details on different technical matters. Many of these so-called "level 2" rules are closely linked to the Omnibus II Directive and cannot be presented by the Commission before the publication of Omnibus II.

At the current stage, there is a risk that the proposed Omnibus II Directive will not be published and will not have entered into force before the deadline for transposition of Directive 2009/138/EC expires at 31 October 2012. Leaving this date unchanged would imply that the Framework Directive would need to be implemented without the transitional rules and other important adaptations foreseen in Omnibus II.

In order to avoid this situation and ensure the legal continuity of the current Solvency provisions (Solvency I) until the complete Solvency II package is in place, it is proposed that the relevant transposition date in Directive 2009/138/EC is extended to 30 June 2013.

It is important to allow supervisors and (re)insurance undertakings some time to prepare for the application of Solvency II. It is therefore proposed to set the date for first application of Solvency II at 1 January 2014. This will make it possible to timely start the supervisory approval procedures e.g. for internal models and undertaking specific parameters. The date of repeal of Solvency I should be amended accordingly.

In view of the above and given the very short period of time left before the time limit of 31 October 2012, this Directive should be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council as a matter of urgency and enter into force without delay.

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)217: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:217:FIN

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