Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2002/83/EC relating to life assurance, as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission
Date: 2006-12-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU law, freedom to provide services, insurance, insurance company, insurance law, life assurance, operation of the Institutions, right of establishment

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.12.2006 
COM(2006) 917 final 

2006/0299 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL  

amending 

Directive 2002/83/EC relating to life assurance, as regards the implementing powers 
conferred on the Commission 

(presented by the Commission) 

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2006/0299 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL  

amending 

Directive 2002/83/EC relating to life assurance, as regards the implementing powers 
conferred on the Commission 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 
47(2) and 55 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee2, 

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty3, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

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Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 
2002  concerning  life  assurance4  provides  that  certain  measures  are  to  be  adopted  in 
accordance  with  Council  Decision  1999/468/EC  of  28  June  1999  laying  down  the 
procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission5. 

Decision 1999/468/EC has been amended by Decision 2006/512/EC, which introduced 
a regulatory procedure with scrutiny for measures of general scope designed to amend 
non-essential elements of a basic instrument adopted in accordance with the procedure 
referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty, including by deleting some of those elements 
or by supplementing the instrument by the addition of new non-essential elements. 

In accordance with the joint statement of the European Parliament, the Council and the 
Commission6 on Decision 2006/512/EC, instruments which are already in force must 
be  adjusted  in  accordance  with  the  applicable  procedures.  That  statement  indicates  a 
list  of  instruments  which  should  be  adjusted  as  a  matter  of  urgency,  including 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ L 345, 19.12.2002, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2005/68/EC (OJ L 323, 9.12.2005, 
p. 1). 
OJ  L  184,  17.7.1999,  p.  23.  Decision  as  amended  by  Decision  2006/512/EC  (OJ  L  200 ,  22.7.2006, 
p.11). 
OJ C255, 21.10.2006, p. 1. 

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(4) 

Directive  2003/41/EC  and  Directive  2005/1/EC.  To  align  these  two  Directives, 
Directive 2002/83/EC should be amended. 

 In  particular  power  should  be  conferred  on  the  Commission  to  adopt  the  measures 
necessary for the implementation of Directive 2002/83/EC in order to take account of 
technical developments in the insurance sector or on financial markets and to ensure 
uniform application of that Directive. More particularly, those measures are designed 
to adjust the elements eligible for the available solvency margin, to extend the list of 
legal  forms,  amend  the  list  of  classes  of  insurance  or  adapt  the  terminology  used  in 
that list, clarify or adjust the items constituting the solvency margin, amend the list of 
assets  acceptable  as  cover  for  technical  provisions  and  the  rules  on  the  spreading  of 
investments, change the relaxations in the matching rules, clarify definitions and make 
the  necessary  technical  adjustments  to  the  rules  for  setting  the  maxima  applicable  to 
interest  rates.  Since  those  measures  are  of  general  scope  and  are  designed  to  amend 
non-essential elements of Directive 2002/83/EC, they should be adopted in accordance 
with  the  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  provided  for  in  Article  5a  of  Decision 
1999/468/EC. 

(5) 

Directive 2002/83/EC should therefore be amended accordingly. 

(6) 

Since  the  amendments  to  be  made  to  Directive  2002/83/EC  by  this  Directive  are 
adjustments of a technical nature which only concern the committee procedure they do 
not  need  to  be  transposed  by  the  Member  States.  It  is  therefore  not  necessary  to  lay 
down provisions to that effect. 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

Directive 2002/83/EC is amended as follows: 

Article 1 

(1) 

In Article 64 the introductory phrase is replaced by the following:  

"The  following  technical  adjustments  designed  to  amend  non-essential  elements  of 
this  Directive,  shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  regulatory  procedure  with 
scrutiny referred to in Article 65(2):" 

(2) 

Article 65 is amended as follows : 

(a) 

Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: 

"2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to (4) and Article 7 of 
Decision  1999/468/EC  shall  apply,  having  regard  to  the  provisions  of  Article  8 
thereof." 

(b) 

Paragraph 3 is deleted. 

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This  Directive  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  [..]  day  following  that  of  its  publication  in  the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

Article 3 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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