2022 will be the decisive year for the review of Solvency II. How do you assess the EU Commission's proposal for the review as we have currently on the table?
‘Indeed, a very important year for Solvency II, and I think we're off to a good start. Because overall, we at EIOPA like the proposal that the Commission has put on the table. Specifically, we're very happy with the proposal to develop an Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive. And also to include a macro prudential perspective in Solvency II. It was one of the three ambitions we had, and we're happy to see that back in the proposals of the Commission. Moreover, we're pleased with some of the sustainable finance items that are now introduced in Solvency II. They were already there in the renewed sustainable finance strategy of the Commission, but they will now also find a place in insurance supervision through the Solvency II review which we welcome.
Maybe there are also some concerns in the Solvency II proposal as it stands now, I think in particular we very much miss wording on an IGS-insurance guarantee scheme, which we feel is very important to have. If you allow through passporting, the sale of insurance products through the entirety of Europe to all European consumers, then we would expect that those consumers are protected equally. And in the absence of a minimum harmonised insurance guarantee scheme, that is currently not the case. Finally, in the core role, as prudential supervisors, we do have some concerns with the proposals on pillar one. In general, we feel that indeed, there is room for long-term investment, to look at the possibility to adjust the capital requirements a bit in order to also enable those long-term investments and recognise that long-term character. However, the current proposals in scope go way beyond long term, and that is a concern. But we stand ready to discuss that with the political level in the year to come.’
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