The Future of Insurance Regulation and Supervision in the EU

Over a three-year period beginning in July 2003, CEPS organised a Task Force, to explore the challenges facing regulation and supervision of the insurance industry in the EU. The Task Force, chaired by Johan Van Der Ende, Director of Structured Investments for PGGM, brought together representatives from the industry and its regulators, industry associations, consultancies, national governments, distinguished scholars, the European Parliament and the European Commission. This report, written by CEPS Research Fellow Rym Ayadi and Christopher O’Brien, Director, Centre for Risk and Insurance Studies at Nottingham University Business School, provides an overview of the developments and challenges facing insurance companies and their regulators in Europe and presents the findings and recommendations of the members of the Task Force. It explains the weaknesses of the obsolete regulatory and supervisory framework and examines the state of play of the ‘Solvency II’ project that will replace it. The report also discusses the role of international insurance regulators and the links with the accounting rules and presents case studies of the Swiss and British experiences in adopting a market-consistent valuation of assets and liabilities to learn if there are lessons to be applied at the EU level.