Agreement on solvency rules within the European Union

The European Union reached an agreement on the solvency rules binding insurers after ten years of fruitless discussions. A first version was approved in 2009 and designed for enforcement in 2012. Disagreements between member States and parliament have repeatedly postponed its implementation.

The method of calculating the liquidity cushion required in return for long-term life contracts has for a long time been behind the failure of the talks. Now that this problem has been solved, the agreement will allow the entry into force of this Solvency II directive in 2016.