No compromise

As Solvency II reaches a critical stage in its progress through political negotiations, Charlie McCreevy, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, says he is sticking to his guns over the more controversial areas of the directive

Our key priority for this year is ensuring that the Solvency II Proposal is adopted without the substance of the Proposal being compromised. 2007 was a key year with the Commission adopting the Proposal in July. The Portuguese Presidency did an excellent job in negotiating it. The Council Working group met several times and agreement was reached on a substantial number of issues. The discussion on Pillar 2, which covers the supervisory review, and Pillar 3, which comprises disclosure and reporting, is almost complete. Agreement has also been reached on most of the recast. This is encouraging progress.