The Solvency ii
Directive
THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Articles 47(2) and 55
thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the
Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European
Economic and Social Committee ,
After consulting the
Committee of the Regions,
Acting in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty
,
Whereas:
(1) A number of substantial changes are to
be made to the First Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 on
the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions
relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of direct
insurance other than life assurance , Council Directive 78/473/EEC
of 30 May 1978 on the coordination of laws, regulations and
administrative provisions relating to Community co-insurance,
Council Directive 87/344/EEC of 22 June 1987 on the coordination of
laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to legal
expenses insurance, the Second Council Directive 88/357/EEC of 22
June 1988 on the coordination of laws, regulations and
administrative provisions relating to direct insurance other than
life assurance and laying down provisions to facilitate the
effective exercise of freedom to provide services, Council Directive
92/49/EEC of 18 June 1992 on the coordination of laws, regulations
and administrative provisions relating to direct insurance other
than life assurance (third non-life insurance Directive), Directive
98/78/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October
1998 on the supplementary supervision of insurance undertakings in
an insurance group , Directive 2001/17/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 19 March 2001 on the reorganisation and
winding-up of insurance undertakings , Directive 2002/83/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 concerning
life assurance , Directive 2005/68/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 16 November 2005 on reinsurance and Directive
2007/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5
September 2007 amending Council Directive 92/49/EEC and Directives
2002/83/EC, 2004/39/EC, 2005/68/EC and 2006/48/EC as regards
procedural rules and evaluating criteria for the prudential
assessment of acquisitions and increase of holdings in the financial
sector. In the interests of clarity those
Directives should be recast.
(2) In order to
facilitate the taking up and pursuit of the activities of insurance
and reinsurance, it is necessary to eliminate
the most serious differences between the laws of the Member States
as regards the rules to which insurance and reinsurance
undertakings are subject.
A
legal framework should therefore be provided for insurance and
reinsurance undertakings to conduct insurance
business throughout the internal market thus making it easier
for insurance and reinsurance undertakings with head offices in the
Community to cover commitments and risks situated
therein.
(3) It is in the interests of the proper functioning
of the internal market that coordinated rules be established
relating to the supervision of insurance groups and, with a view to
the protection of creditors, to the reorganisation and winding-up
proceedings in respect of insurance undertakings.
(4) It is
appropriate that certain undertakings which
provide insurance services are not covered by the system
established by this Directive due to their size, their legal status,
their nature - as being closely linked to public insurance systems-
or the specific services they offer. It is further desirable to
exclude certain institutions in several Member States whose business
covers a very limited sector only and is restricted by law to a
specific territory or to specified persons.
(4a) Very small insurance undertakings fulfilling certain
conditions, including a level of gross premium income below
EUR 5 million, are excluded from the
scope of this Directive.
However,
all insurance and reinsurance undertakings which are already licensed under the current
Directives should continue to be licensed when this Directive
is implemented. Undertakings which are excluded from the
scope of this Directive should be able to make
use of the basic freedoms granted by the Treaty.
Those
undertakings have the option to
seek authorisation under this Directive in
order to benefit from the single license provided for by
this Directive.
(4b) Member States may require undertakings
that carry on the business of insurance and which are excluded from the scope of this Directive to
register. Member States may also subject these undertakings to
prudential and legal supervision.
(5)
Council Directive 72/166/EEC of 24 April 1972 on the approximation
of the laws of Member States relating to insurance against civil
liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles, and to the
enforcement of the obligation to insure against such liability , the
Seventh Council Directive 83/349/EEC of 13 June 1983 based on the
Article 54(3)(g) of the Treaty on consolidated accounts , the Second
Council Directive 84/5/EEC of 30 December 1983 on the approximation
of the laws of the Member States relating to insurance against civil
liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles , Directive
2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April
2004 on markets in financial instruments and Directive 2006/48/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 relating
to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions
lay down general rules in the fields of accounting, motor insurance
liability, financial instruments and credit institutions and provide
for definitions in those areas. It is appropriate that certain of
those definitions apply for the purposes of this
Directive.
(6) The taking up of insurance or of reinsurance
activities should be subject to prior
authorisation. It is therefore necessary to lay down the
conditions and the procedure for the granting of that authorisation
as well as for any refusal.
(6a) As concerns the scope of reinsurance activities that an insurance
undertaking may be authorised to carry on, the Directives
repealed by this Directive do not lay down any rules in this
respect. It is for the Member States to decide to lay down any rules
in this regard. This Directive does not introduce any changes in
this respect and does therefore not lay down any rules on the scope
of reinsurance activities that an insurance undertaking may be
authorised to carry on either.
(6b) References in this
Directive to insurance or reinsurance undertakings should include captive insurance and captive reinsurance
undertakings, except where specific provision is made for those
undertakings.
(7) Since this Directive constitutes an
essential instrument for the achievement of the internal market
insurance and reinsurance undertakings authorised in their home
Member States should be allowed to carry on, throughout the
Community, any or all of their activities by establishing branches
or by providing services. It is therefore appropriate to bring about
such harmonisation as is necessary and sufficient to achieve the mutual recognition of authorisations and
supervisory systems, and thus a single authorisation which is
valid throughout the Community and which allows the supervision of
an undertaking to be carried out by the home Member State.
(8) Directive 2000/26/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 16 May 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the
Member States relating to insurance against civil liability in
respect of the use of motor vehicles (Fourth motor insurance
Directive) lays down rules on the appointment of claims
representatives. Those rules should apply for the purposes of this
Directive.
(9) Reinsurance undertakings
should limit their objects to the business of reinsurance and
related operations. Such a requirement should not prevent a
reinsurance undertaking from carrying on activities such as the
provision of statistical or actuarial advice, risk analysis or
research for its clients.
It
may also include a holding company function and activities with
respect to financial sector activities within the meaning of Article
2 (8) of Directive 2002/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 16 December 2002 on the supplementary supervision of
credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in
a financial conglomerate.
In
any case, this requirement does not allow the
carrying on of unrelated banking and financial
activities.
(10) The protection of
policyholders presupposes that insurance and reinsurance
undertakings are subject to effective solvency requirements that
result in an efficient allocation of capital in the European Union.
In light of market developments the current system is no longer
adequate. It is therefore necessary to introduce a new regulatory
framework.
  
Return to Index
Solvency ii Introduction (1) to (10)
Solvency ii Introduction (11) to (20)
Solvency ii Introduction (21) to (30)
Solvency ii Introduction (31) to (40)
Solvency ii Introduction (41) to (50)
Solvency ii Introduction (51) to (60)
Solvency ii Introduction (61) to (70)
Solvency ii Introduction (71) to (80)
Solvency ii Introduction (81) to (95)
Solvency ii Articles 1 to 10
Solvency ii Articles 11 to 20
Solvency ii Articles 21 to 30
Solvency ii Articles 31 to 39
Solvency ii Articles 40 to 49
Solvency ii Articles 50 to 62
Solvency ii Articles 63 to 71
Solvency ii Articles 72 to 85
Solvency ii Articles 86 to 99
Solvency ii Articles 100 to 125
Solvency ii Articles 126 to 142
Solvency ii Articles 143 to 159
Solvency ii Articles 160 to 173
Solvency ii Articles 174 to 203
Solvency ii Articles 204 to 215
Solvency ii Articles 216 to 233
Solvency ii Articles 234 to
262
Solvency ii Articles 263 to 298
Solvency ii Articles 300 to 313
Solvency ii ANNEX 1 to 3
Solvency ii ANNEX 4 to 5
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