Phil Hogan
Question:24 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Finance the action his Department and the Government have taken to promote the creation of a single European insurance market. [18149/04]
View answerWednesday, 23 June 2004
Questions (43)
Written answers
Competitiveness is a key priority of the Irish Presidency. In the area of financial services, including insurance, my priority has been to make progress on the completion of the EU financial services action plan.
The plan aims, among other measures, to improve the functioning of the Single Market and benefit insurance policyholders and other consumers of financial services. It does so by removing barriers to cross-border trade in financial services and thus increasing the choice available to consumers.
Directives on insurance solvency and insurance mediation have already been approved under the plan. The insurance solvency directive sets new solvency margin requirements for insurance companies. It increases the amount of capital that a company must hold to help meet unexpected events and thus offers increased assurance to policyholders, wherever they are living. The insurance mediation directive makes it easier for intermediaries to operate anywhere in the Single Market, thus increasing the choice of insurance products available to customers and helping to ensure they can trust any associated advice. The Commission can propose new EU legislation. Last April it published a directive to address the current lack of a harmonised reinsurance supervision regime. The different national rules in reinsurance have created uncertainty for direct insurance companies and their policyholders, barriers to trade within the internal market and increased administrative costs.
Achieving a functioning Single Market in the insurance area is a key dimension of the Government's insurance reform programme. It would increase the range of competitively priced insurance products available to Irish consumers.
Question No. 25 answered with QuestionNo. 18.
Question No. 26 answered with QuestionNo. 8.