Skip to content
REPORT (COM(2021)0581 – C90367/2021 – 2021/0295(COD))

On the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/138/EC as regards proportionality, quality of supervision, reporting, long-term guarantee measures, macro-prudential tools, sustainability risks, group and cross-border supervision

A-9-2023-0256

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs · Rapporteur: Markus Ferber

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull textProcedure & committee votes
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 26 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's amended version of the Commission proposal for a directive amending Directive 2009/138/EC on insurance and reinsurance (Solvency II). It introduces a low-risk profile undertaking category with automatic proportionality measures, strengthens supervisory cooperation and macroprudential tools, and adjusts long-term guarantee measures and sustainability risk requirements. It raises the thresholds below which small undertakings are excluded from the directive, extends the road assistance exemption to neighbouring countries, and requires applicants to disclose previous authorisation rejections. It requires climate change scenario analysis for undertakings with material exposure, splits the solvency and financial condition report into two parts, and introduces an audit requirement for the balance sheet. It reforms long-term guarantee measures, including a 4.5% cost-of-capital rate, a new extrapolation method with a 20-year starting point for the euro, and a volatility adjustment subject to supervisory approval with an increased 85% proportion. It gives supervisory authorities powers to restrict or suspend distributions and bonuses during exceptional situations, and requires liquidity risk management plans. It amends group supervision rules, including clarification of insurance holding companies, treatment of related undertakings from other financial sectors, and a minimum consolidated group Solvency Capital Requirement capped at 45%.

Committee position. The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs proposes amendments to the Commission proposal, including a new low-risk profile undertaking category, strengthened supervisory cooperation, macroprudential tools, and adjustments to long-term guarantee measures and sustainability risk requirements.

Key points

  1. Raises the thresholds for exclusion from the directive to annual gross written premium of EUR 15 000 000 and technical provisions of EUR 50 000 000, with an option to seek authorisation.
  2. Extends the road assistance exemption to accidents or breakdowns occurring occasionally in a neighbouring country.
  3. Requires applicants for authorisation to inform the supervisory authority of previous rejections or withdrawals in another Member State, and requires EIOPA to keep a database of refusals.
  4. Creates a low-risk profile undertaking category with criteria for life, non-life and composite undertakings, and automatic classification for captives.
  5. Allows low-risk profile undertakings to use proportionality measures automatically, and other undertakings to use them with prior supervisory approval.
  6. Requires a regular supervisory report every five years for low-risk profile undertakings and every three years for others.
  7. Requires undertakings with material climate change exposure to carry out long-term climate scenario analyses at least every three years, with an exemption for low-risk profile undertakings.
  8. Splits the solvency and financial condition report into a part for policyholders and beneficiaries and a part for other market participants, and requires an audit of the balance sheet for most undertakings.
  9. Sets the Cost-of-Capital rate at 4.5% and introduces a new extrapolation method for the risk-free interest rate term structure, with a 20-year starting point for the euro under certain market conditions.
  10. Makes the volatility adjustment subject to supervisory approval, allows an increased proportion of 85% of the risk-corrected spread, and replaces the country component with a macro component.
  11. Gives supervisory authorities powers to restrict or suspend dividend distributions, share buy-backs and bonuses during exceptional situations, and requires liquidity risk management plans.
  12. Amends group supervision rules, including a 45% cap on the minimum consolidated group Solvency Capital Requirement and simplification for immaterial related undertakings.

Who is affected

  • Insurance and reinsurance undertakings in the EU, which face new proportionality measures, reporting and disclosure requirements, and climate risk assessments.
  • Small insurance undertakings, which may benefit from increased thresholds for exclusion from the directive.
  • Captive insurance and reinsurance undertakings, which are automatically classified as low-risk profile and benefit from reporting and disclosure simplifications.
  • Insurance and reinsurance groups, which face amended group solvency calculation rules and a minimum consolidated group Solvency Capital Requirement.
  • Supervisory authorities, which gain new powers on authorisation, macroprudential tools, and cross-border cooperation.

Figures and deadlines

  • EUR 15 000 000: annual gross written premium threshold for exclusion from the directive.
  • EUR 50 000 000: technical provisions threshold for exclusion from the directive.
  • 15% or EUR 30 000 000: threshold for significant cross-border activities.
  • 4.5%: Cost-of-Capital rate for the risk margin.
  • 85%: increased proportion of the risk-corrected spread that can be added to the basic risk-free interest rate term structure.
  • 20 years: starting point for the extrapolation of risk-free interest rates for the euro under certain market conditions.
  • 45%: cap on the minimum consolidated group Solvency Capital Requirement as a percentage of the consolidated group Solvency Capital Requirement.
  • 22%: instantaneous decrease in the value of long-term equity investments for the capital requirement.

Legal basis: Article 53(1), Article 62 and Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.