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 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 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.

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 Agency (EIOPA) on 1 January 2011 (Omnibus II) and the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty which required the adjustment of empowerments for the Commission to adopt implementing measures to empowerments for the Commission to adopt implementing and delegated acts according to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The proposal also included provisions to extend the transposition, repeal and application dates in Directive 2009/138/EC. These rules are important 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 Omnibus II and cannot be presented by the Commission before the publication of Omnibus II, which will also clarify the scope of many delegated and implementing act empowerments.

The deadline for transposition and application of Directive 2009/138/EC was initially 31 October 2012 and 1 November 2012 respectively, but pending the outcome of the on-going legislative negotiations on Omnibus II, Directive 2012/23/EU (Quick Fix) postponed these dates to 30 June 2013 and 1 January 2014 respectively. Directive 2012/23/EU also postpones the date when the existing insurance and reinsurance directives that are collectively referred to as Solvency I will be repealed. Instead of 1 November 2012, those directives will now be repealed with effect from 1 January 2014.

In view of the fact that the negotiations on Omnibus II have not yet been finalised the date of transposition of 30 June 2013, which has already elapsed, should be extended one last time. Leaving the dates unchanged would imply that Solvency II needs to be implemented without the transitional rules and other important adaptations foreseen in Omnibus II. In order to avoid continued legal uncertainty and ensure the legal continuity of the current Solvency provisions until the complete Solvency II package is in place, it is proposed that the relevant transposition date in Directive 2009/138/EC is extended one last time to 31 January 2015.

It is important to allow supervisors and insurance and reinsurance undertakings some time to prepare for the application of Solvency II. It is therefore proposed to extend the date for first application of Solvency II one last time to 1 January 2016.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)680: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:680:FIN

ESO: Background information: Statement by Commissioner Michel Barnier on the application date of Solvency II http://www.europeansources.info/record/memo-statement-by-commissioner-michel-barnier-on-the-application-date-of-solvency-ii/

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