On Monday 16 January, the insurance sector welcomed the agreement reached the week before between the EU and the United States on insurance and reinsurance. Under this agreement, American and European insurance companies operating on the other market will only be subject to oversight by the supervisors of their home jurisdiction. Essentially, this means that the American authorities will retain the supervision of their insurance companies and vice versa.
On behalf of Insurance Europe, which represents the sector, Cristina Mihai expressed support for the provisions of the agreement aiming to remove "the discriminatory collateral requirements that EU reinsurers were subject to when placing business in the US". The organisation also hopes that the agreement will be implemented swiftly.
On Friday, the agreement was presented to the American Congress. There will now be a verification period of 90 days, after which it will be approved tacitly. The American authorities will then be in a position to sign the agreement.
In the EU, the first step will be the adoption by the European Commission of a proposal to the Council to allow the EU to sign the agreement. Once the Council's green light has been obtained, the Commission hopes to be able to sign the agreement very quickly. It must then present a proposal to the Council authorising it to conclude the agreement. The European Parliament will also have a say. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)