Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-06-Speech-2-381"
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"en.20100706.28.2-381"2
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"Madam President, I would like to focus on the EIOPA report, which is about the Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority. As most of you are aware, insurance and occupational pensions are two subjects very close to my heart, indeed probably the subjects in which I have been most interested in the ECON Committee.
Solvency II, which Parliament voted on last year and on which I was the rapporteur, is the piece of legislation that, in fact, I am most proud of to date. It remains the most comprehensive piece of sectoral financial services legislation voted on in this Parliament. I expect it to reduce both consumer costs and systemic risks posed by the insurance sector, such as they are. A large part of Solvency II is devoted to overcoming the challenges facing supervisors and supervisory colleges in managing the risks and complexities associated with large cross-border insurers. As such, Solvency II is intimately linked with the proposals for EIOPA. EIOPA, in my opinion, provides the oil that will allow Solvency II to operate more effectively.
It is perhaps because of my experience with Solvency II that I was keen to take on this report. I knew that it was the context in which we could make Solvency II really work. It has also meant that in the ECON debate, I was unable to support some aspects of the more ambitious plans of some of my fellow supervision rapporteurs in the areas they have described that I could initially support, such as day-to-day supervision of financial institutions or resolution funds up by January 2011. This may or may not be appropriate for banks or capital markets, but for insurance, the debate is really open. Insurance is not banking and I am glad that my fellow rapporteurs have accepted that.
The concerns I have raised are now recognised by many as legitimate and all parties no longer believe that there is a dispute. Direct supervision and resolution fund projects are for those for the coming years and the rapporteurs are, I believe, converged in their belief on this point. The objective of the Commission is that the three sectoral ISAs should, in fact, be the same in terms of composition. The sectoral legislation, principally in this respect Solvency II and IORP, will define what specific powers EIOPA will have.
Thus, the rapporteurs have worked on the basis that what goes into one ISA at this stage must be read across to the other two, and it is because of my concerns at the outset that some of the ambitions behind this were perhaps not as directly appropriate for insurance and pensions that we have – if you like – the nuances which we can read into the EIOPA. They will not be different but they will be balanced. They are not necessarily the headline-grabbing areas but I believe we can rely upon something which will work – and work just as well across the board as if it were any of the other sectors.
One of my key objectives was to ensure that there was a counterbalance from the micro cross-sectoral level to the one which is operated by central bankers in the ESRB. Whilst I accept Mr Tremosa’s point about central banks, it is also important that we have this balance in the micro-supervisory field as well. That is why I am so pleased about the joint committee – which we have been able to reveal and to push forward, where we can see that this balance will be held – and that my joint rapporteurs have accepted this point as have, I believe, also the Council and the Commission. This is a real gain for Parliament. I also believe that having, of the three ISAs, one of the revolving chairs as a Vice-President of the ESRB is quite essential also for a plurality of the views which have to be heard from the coalface.
We have to take into account that EIOPA will be reflecting two connected, but different, sectors so we must have the stakeholder groups involved too, reflecting both those sectors. As I have stated, the ISAs come from sectoral legislation and for insurance, I believe that Solvency II and EIOPA are an excellent marriage.
For pensions, the question is up in the air. A lot will now depend upon the Commission’s report on the IORP, and I hope to work closely on this, but I believe that there is a deal here for us to make, a deal which we will make in the forthcoming days – perhaps weeks – which will benefit greatly EIOPA and the role Parliament has played in defining its powers, which I believe will serve consumers and, of course, the authorities around Europe, well."@en1
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