EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, XXX COM(2012) 360 ... - BVVM

Overall, the estimate of the administrative burden on the basis of the above
mentioned PWC study and industry statistics, reworked by the Commission Services,
is that in view of the large number of undertakings affected (about 1 million), the
proposal will result in a relatively moderate cost of, on average, about 730 euro per
undertaking.
The impact assessment work finished in 2012. The European Commission Impact
Assessment Board's recommendations were taken on board especially concerning the
impact on SME's. For instance, SME intermediaries which are currently outside the
scope and which will be brought into scope by the current proposal are essentially
businesses whose principal activity is other than insurance mediation (so mediation is
purely ancillary to their main business such as travel agents or car rentals). These
intermediaries will be subject to a light touch regime (declaration procedure, Article
4 of the current proposal) as a proportionate approach to the ancillary nature of the
mediation they perform. In general, proportional requirements have been introduced
to take account of SME's concerns and to respect the principle 'less complex
products, less rules'. For instance, some investment products are wrapped as life
insurance policies. A more stringent regime for the selling practices of those products
(life insurance policies with investment elements (insurance investment products or
insurance PRIPs)) will be introduced (Chapter VII).
3. LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL
3.1. Legal basis
The proposal is based on Article 53(1) and 62 of the TFEU. It will replace Directive
2002/92/EC and deals with the harmonisation of national provisions on insurance
intermediaries and other sellers of insurance products. It brings within its scope
certain ancillary sellers and after-sales businesses such as loss adjusters and claims
handlers. It clarifies the exercise of the freedom of establishment, of the freedom to
provide services, and the powers of supervisory authorities of home and host
Member States in this regard. The main objective and subject-matter of this proposal
is to harmonise national provisions concerning conduct of business rules for all
sellers of insurance products and other market entities present on insurance and
reinsurance markets, the conditions for their governance, and their supervisory
framework.
3.2. Subsidiarity and proportionality
According to the principle of subsidiarity (Article 5(3) of the TEU), action at EU
level should be taken only when the aims envisaged cannot be achieved sufficiently
by Member States alone and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the
proposed action, be better achieved by the EU.
Most of the issues covered by the revision are already covered by the current IMD1
legal framework. Further, insurance markets are increasingly cross-border in nature.
The conditions under which firms and operators can compete in this context, whether
they be rules on transparency or customer protection, need to be comparable across
borders and are all at the core of IMD1 today. Action is now required at European
level in order to update and modify the regulatory framework laid out by IMD1 in
order to take into account developments in insurance markets since its
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