EIOPA Chairman Bernardino: We are committed to making Solvency II a success

16 November 2011

Speaking at EIOPA's first annual conference, Bernardino stressed that EIOPA is determined to remain true to its core objective of “protecting the public interest by contributing to the short-, medium- and long-term stability and effectiveness of the financial system”.

Bernardino mentioned that in May 2012, EIOPA plans to start public consultation on technical standards and accompanying guidelines that are essential for the implementation of Solvency II.

Regarding this final stage of Solvency II there are two substantive issues that are still under discussion:  

• The countercyclical tools - Solvency II already includes various tools to deal with the risk of procyclicality. If properly calibrated and applied, elements like the Pillar I equity dampener, the supervisory ladder of intervention and the Pillar II extension of the recovery period have the potential to mitigate procyclical behaviour. The discussions have now evolved to the proposal of a Counter Cyclical Premium to add on top of the risk-free interest rate when discounting insurance liabilities in crisis times.
• The issue of reporting to supervisors - EIOPA has been working hard on a set of harmonised templates that will substitute the 27 different reporting systems in the EU. This will be a huge achievement and will generate enormous benefits for the industry and for supervisors.

Full speech

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