European Union commissioner Michel Barnier called earlier this week for a year-long delay in introducing Solvency II. He is recommending that a final agreement should wait until tests to gauge the impact of the rules are completed next March.
Chairman of EIOPA, Gabriel Bernardino told the European Parliament that a clear timetable is needed.
Insurance Europe has welcomed the fact that the results of the impact assessment on measures to deal with long-term guarantee issues in Solvency II are expected to be known before the Omnibus II text is finalised. It comments "It is regretable that this may lead to a delay in the Solvency II process, but it is vital that the results of the tests can be reflected in Omnibus II in order to ensure that the new regulatory regime is both appropriate and workable.
The decision to carry out the assessment shows that legislators have recognised that measures are needed to ensure that the Solvency II framework measures the real risks faced by insurance companies' long-term business and does not create artificial volatility. Without such measures the provision by insurers of long-term guarantees and their matching long term investment would be under threat. The challenge now is to ensure that those measures are correctly designed and work across the European markets.
Insurance Europe welcomes the forthcoming impact assessment and will support Europe's insurers in contributing to it as fully as possible."
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