EIOPA continues to reinforce supervisory cooperation in cross-border activities

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) amended the Decision on the collaboration of the insurance supervisory authorities of the Member States in the European Economic Area. The new Decision will further strengthen and enhance the cooperation between the national competent authorities (NCAs) in relation to cross-border activities through:

• the introduction of three new notifications requirements for NCAs: notification in case of intention to authorise an undertaking with cross-border activities, in case an undertaking carrying out cross-border activity shows deteriorating financial conditions or other emerging risks which may have cross-border effects and in case of serious and reasoned concerns with regard to consumer protection;

• a more active role of EIOPA in the information exchange to allow the identification of potential risks at the earliest possible stage as well as to foster proactive supervision and timely supervisory actions; and
• the clarification of the role of NCAs and EIOPA in the process of setting up and running cooperation platforms.

The new Decision is key for achieving consistent supervisory practices to enhance preventive consumer protection across the European Union. Increased cross-border activities in the internal market and the growing internationalisation of business activities require a sound exchange of information and show that a strong, close and timely collaboration between insurance supervisory authorities is needed.

The new Decision will start applying from 1 July 2021 onwards. EIOPA will continue to monitor the implementation of the Decision and will use its supervisory convergence tools to ensure a consistent application across the European Union.

Background

The amended Decision replaces the Decision of the Board of Supervisors on the collaboration of the insurance supervisory authorities of the Member States of the European Economic Area (EIOPA-BoS-17/013) of 30 January 2017. It takes into account the requirements defined in the Solvency II Directive, the recommendations to EIOPA from the Peer Review on Collaboration, and EIOPA’s own experience in the implementation of the previous Decision.

In December 2019, the Solvency II Directive introduced new notifications requirements for NCAs in case of undertaking carrying out cross-border activities in another member state (Article 152a) and defined the regulatory framework for the cooperation platforms (Article 152b) previously established on the basis of the Decision on collaboration.

A cooperation platform is set up when EIOPA and relevant national supervisory authorities see the merit in strengthening cooperation in case of material cross-border business in order to enable a sound internal market in the European Union. The platforms allow home supervisors to make use of expertise and knowledge about local market specificities from host supervisors.