Progress: Procedure completed
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
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Lead | EQUI | WALLIS Diana ( ALDE) |
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 208
Legal Basis:
RoP 208Events
By adopting, by 602 votes for, 13 against and 64 abstentions, the recommendation based on the report of the Committee of Inquiry into the crisis of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, the European Parliament accepts the position agreed by the committee responsible concerning the report of the Committee of Inquiry. In doing so, the Parliament approved, unamended, the recommendations made by the Committee of Inquiry (please refer to the summary dated 08/05/2007).
The committee of inquiry into the crisis at the Equitable Life Assurance Society adopted, by 13 votes to 0 with 4 abstentions, its final report drafted by Diana WALLIS ( ALDE , UK ). The inquiry was set up in January 2006 in response to two petitions received by Parliament from policyholders who were among the victims of the debacle at the Equitable Life Assurance Society that inflicted major financial losses on over a million people, mainly in Britain but also in other countries, including Ireland and Germany . The problems arose because the company did not set aside adequate reserves to cover its liabilities and then ran into financial difficulties when interest rates began to fall in the 1990s.
The committee looked into the role of the UK government and regulators in implementing EU insurance law and that of the European Commission in monitoring the implementation of such law. The spotlight was on two key issues: the plight of the policyholders and the implications for the European single market in financial services.
Poor implementation of EU law and weakness of financial regulators
The committee concluded that EU life insurance legislation was transposed into British law in an unsatisfactory fashion (this raises the general question of how well EU law is transposed in all the different Member States and how far this process is monitored by the Commission). In addition, the UK 's financial regulators were severely criticised, notably for their “excessive leniency” towards Equitable Life’s solvency margin (its inadequate reserves).
Difficulty in obtaining redress, both inside and outside the UK
When Equitable policyholders (most based in the UK) sought to defend their rights, they "had great difficulty in knowing what route to take or who to apply to in trying to obtain information, make a complaint and obtain redress", whether through the courts, through alternative dispute schemes or through ombudsman services. Non-UK policyholders, such as the 8 000 in Ireland and 4 000 in Germany , suffered from a further problem: which regulatory bodies were responsible? Was it those in the “home state” (the company’s country of origin) or the “host state” (the country where it sold its policies)? The EP inquiry concluded that this was not clear.
Recommendations of the inquiry
Following up on its conclusions, the inquiry made a number of proposals. Regarding the victims of the crisis, MEPs believed that "the UK Government is under an obligation to assume responsibility" and should therefore devise an appropriate scheme "with a view to compensating Equitable Life policyholders within the UK , Ireland , Germany and elsewhere".
Turning to the "lessons for the future", the report stressed as a general point "the need to foster consumer confidence in pension products" (especially given the ageing population and the growing importance of pensions). It requested that "any financial services legislation duly recognises the priority of consumer and investor protection issues", while still minimising red tape and not stifling innovation in the financial services industry.
More specifically, it called for stricter rules on insurance supervision and regulation throughout the EU, for Member States and the Commission to improve the transposition and monitoring of EU legislation and for national regulatory authorities to cooperate better.
The report said that the Commission did not monitor the application of the EU insurance legislation effectively, and should in future be “more proactive” on this front "to ensure that the legislation is producing the required effects".
The inquiry also suggested that the European Parliament's standing committees should play a more active role in following up the implementation of legislation in their own policy areas.
Documents
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2007)4174
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2007)3798/2
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament: T6-0264/2007
- Motion for a resolution: B6-0199/2007
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0203/2007
- Committee report tabled for plenary: A6-0203/2007
- Committee draft report: PE386.573
- Committee draft report: PE386.573
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0203/2007
- Motion for a resolution: B6-0199/2007
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2007)3798/2
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2007)4174
Activities
- Luigi COCILOVO
- Diana WALLIS
Plenary Speeches (2)
- Marco PANNELLA
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Jim ALLISTER
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Sir Robert ATKINS
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Pervenche BERÈS
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Godfrey BLOOM
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Sharon BOWLES
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Michael CASHMAN
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Proinsias DE ROSSA
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Harald ETTL
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Jean-Paul GAUZÈS
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Joel HASSE FERREIRA
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Marcin LIBICKI
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Ashley MOTE
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Seán Ó NEACHTAIN
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Neil PARISH
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Hans-Gert PÖTTERING
Plenary Speeches (1)
- John PURVIS
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Heide RÜHLE
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Peter SKINNER
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Tadeusz ZWIEFKA
Plenary Speeches (1)
Votes
B6-0199/2007 - Rapport de la commission d'enquête "Equitable Life" - recommandation #
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