Entering the final countdown towards Solvency II

The Omnibus II Directive is the Directive which, once approved by the Council of the European Union (Council) and the European Parliament (Parliament), will amend the Solvency II Directive. In particular, Omnibus II will set the implementation date, introduce transitional measures, specify the areas and the timing for further Solvency II legislation, align the Solvency II Directive to the Lisbon Treaty, incorporate new powers given to EIOPA and make other technical amendments.

Both Council and Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) have been working on their proposals on the Omnibus II Directive, building on those originally published by the European Commission (the Commission) in January 2011. Council published its final report on the Omnibus II Directive on 21 September 2011. However the progress of ECON took longer than anticipated due to ongoing negotiations within Parliament and with the industry. As a result ECON only approved its final proposals on 21 March 2012. These two proposals reflect the positions of Parliament and Council which currently diverge in a number of areas.

Over the coming months ECON and Council will be coming together with the Commission to negotiate an agreement on the final Omnibus II proposals. Parliament currently anticipates a plenary vote in September 2012 to adopt the final agreed text.

This document summarises the most relevant aspects of Parliament’s recent proposals and compares them with Council’s position.

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