Strasbourg, 16/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the EP approved in second reading, without amendments, the Council's common position on the directive on reorganisation and winding up of insurance undertakings; Approving the recommendation presented by Karla M. H. Peijs (MEP, NL), the Parliament thus concludes sixteen years of procedure, as the Commission had first presented its proposal in 1986. After successively abandoning and resuming the debate, the Council adopted a common position in October 2000, which essentially takes on board the amendments adopted by Parliament. The rapporteur therefore considers it is no longer necessary to introduce further changes to the text. In his view, the proposal is "as a general rule, well drafted and consistent with the regulation on insolvency" unlike the "parallel proposal concerning banking institutions".
The future directive provides for the winding up process to be subject to a single bankruptcy proceeding initiated in the Member State where it is registered, encompassing all branches established in the Community according to the principles of "unity and universality". The Council common position allows Member States to choose between two systems: either that of granting absolute preference to insurance claims compared to all other claims, or that of giving priority to claims on salaries, social security, taxation and real rights, while granting a special place for insurance claims.
European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, responsible for the internal market, welcomed this vote by the European Parliament. "This Directive ensures that in the case of the failure of an insurance undertaking, there is a clearly established procedure, equally valid for all policyholders for the distribution of assets. This will be an important contribution to ensuring that consumers feel more confident that he or she is adequately protected. Such consumer confidence is essential if the full potential for cross-border trade in financial services is to be developed", stressed Mr Bolkestein. In a press release, the Commission noted above all that the opening of a single insolvency procedure instead of several will make it possible to reduce costs and accelerate formalities, while the current system (whereby the authorities of each Member State in which an insurance firm is represented may open separate insolvency procedures) may entail conflicts of competence and unequal treatment of policyholders.