Frankfurt, 14 November 2013 –The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) welcomes
the trilogue agreement on the Omnibus II Directive. Omnibus II and the clarity
over the Solvency II implementation timeline have been long awaited and will certainly
contribute to the strengthening of insurance supervision in Europe.
This agreement is of extreme importance for EIOPA as a European institution,
because it allows the Authority to fully perform its tasks related to the promotion
of supervisory convergence and consistent supervisory practices.
Note for Editors:
Trilogue represents informal tripartite meetings attended by representatives of the co-legislators
– the European Parliament, the Council of the EU - and the European Commission.
Omnibus II is a draft Directive proposed by the Commission in 2011 intended to adapt the
Solvency II Directive implementing measures to the new architecture introduced
in the Lisbon Treaty (2009) and the new financial supervision measures introduced
in Regulation 1094/2010 establishing the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions
Authority.
Long-term guarantees (LTG) are included in insurance products, usually life insurance and some kinds of
health insurance, and offer a guaranteed return or pay-out to the policyholder
over a fixed period of time. This requires insurers to invest the premiums in
assets which provide a return to the insurer sufficient to meet those guarantees.
LTG package is a package of measures aimed to facilitate the provision of insurance products
with long-term guarantees under Solvency II.
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) was established on 1 January 2011 as a result of the reforms to the structure
of supervision of the financial sector in the European Union.
EIOPA is part of the European System of Financial Supervision consisting of three
European Supervisory Authorities, the National Supervisory Authorities and the
European Systemic Risk Board. It is an independent advisory body to the European
Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
EIOPA’s core responsibilities are to support the stability of the financial system,
transparency of markets and financial products as well as the protection of insurance
policyholders, pension scheme members and beneficiaries.