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By Catalin CAMPEANU, deputy chairman of the board of eficert

The future of insurance distribution, mainly the EU priorities and future regulation in the insurance sector were the main topics for the EFICERT Board Members' visit to the European Commission, Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, on 14th of November 2023.  Thus, very actual subjects like Solvency II review, Insurance Recovery, and resolution Directive (IRDD), Retail Investments Strategy (RIS) and, naturally, the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) review, were the most interesting and discussed. It is important to know that the Commission is actively involved in drafting a new directive, amending MiFID, IDD, UCITS, AIFMD and Solvency II, also a regulation aiming to amend PRIIP’s. The objectives are to strengthen the legislative framework to ensure that retail investors are empowered to take more informed investment decisions and are adequately protected by a coherent regulatory framework. At the same time, enhancing the trust and confidence along with the retail investors participation has been counted among priorities. Sustainability was also a very interesting subject, especially on targeting a better-informed consumer as for future new requirements on the integration of customer’s sustainability preferences in the suitability assessment and the fact that customers struggle to express their “sustainability preferences”.

Several aspects are currently targeted by possible change proposals from the Commission on IDD, considering that we already have more than five years of implementing and assessments behind us. Some of those, like the quality of advice and selling methods, precontractual information given to consumers, notably concerning the exact insurance coverage of a product and the known fact that practical implementation of advice and recommendations given by distributors sometimes tends towards formalism were also under the scope of EIOPA. Stronger common or similar legislative framework for member states is desirable as different professional training and certification systems are in place as, for example, a hot topic for debate could be the introduction of a certain type of examination to level the compulsory 15 hours of annual training.

The EFICERT board members have strengthen out, being on the same direction with the commission representatives, that further action towards common pillars of professional training and certification systems of Member States are to be analysed over the next period, even though some level of uncertainty may be generated by the fact that we will have new commissioners this year.

Above all it proved to be a very fruitful visit as the European Commission plans and priorities for  insurance distribution are a fundamental pillar for EFICERT further development as an European Certification Organization, considering that the harmonization of the European Market requires uniform standards in certification and vocational education in the financial services and  EFICERT is the largest professional and educational organisation for insurance intermediaries, claims handlers and underwriters in Europe.