​The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its annual report on the use of capital add-ons by national competent authorities (NCAs) under Solvency II. The objective of the capital add-on measure is ensure that the regulatory capital requirements reflect the risk profile of the undertaking or of the group. Therefore, it is important that it is used by NCAs when needed and it is also important to ensure a high degree of supervisory convergence within the 31 European Economic Area (EEA) countries, including the EU Member States, regarding its use.  

This analysis is based on 2018 year-end Solvency II data collected under Directive 2009/138/EC as reported by the undertakings and insurance groups complemented by a survey that entailed both qualitative and quantitative questions.

During 2018, eight NCAs set capital add-ons to 21 solo undertakings, out of 2819 (re)insurance undertakings under the Solvency II Directive in the EEA. These include 10 non-life undertakings, eight life undertakings, two reinsurers and one composite undertaking. In 2017, six NCAs had set capital add-ons for a total of 23 solo undertakings. Hence, although the number of capital add-ons is extremely low and decreased slightly from 2017 to 2018, two more NCAs made use of this tool in 2018.

The amount of capital add-ons imposed on undertakings using the standard formula remains very low overall in 2018 accounting for 1% of the total Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR). However, the amount of capital add-on is not insignificant when considering the amount at individual level. In sum, as of year-end 2018, the weight of the capital add-on increased to 32% (30% in 2017) when looking at the amount of capital add-ons as a percentage of the total SCR for those undertakings using the standard formula with capital add-ons.

The distribution of the capital add-ons as a percentage of the total SCR in 2018 for undertakings that imposed capital add-ons varies substantially once more. In 2018, the largest percentage was 80% (83% in 2017), whereas the smallest percentage rounded close to 0% (1% in 2017). It should be noted that in all but five cases, if applied, the capital add-on increased the SCR by more than 10%.

The report can be obtained on EIOPA’s website.

December 13, 2019 General

ID5 Annual Meeting in Japan

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) hosted the 5th Annual Meeting in Chiba, Japan, on 12-13 December 2019.

The EUIPO’s Executive Director, Christian Archambeau, participated in the meeting, which involved discussions on the ID5 partners’ respective projects.

ID5 is the multilateral cooperation forum, inaugurated in 2015, which allows the five largest offices dealing with industrial design, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), to seek cooperation synergies for the benefit of users in the field of design registration.

The JPO also hosted an Experts’ Meeting on 13 December which focused on the expectations for more efficient and user-friendly industrial design protection to meet the needs of global users. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was present as an observer.

During the meeting, the ID5 partner offices shared their progress on a number of cooperation projects. The EUIPO reported on the progress made in the two projects it leads, ‘Product Indications’ and ‘Forecasting’, as well as a project it co-leads with CNIPA on ‘Quality Management’.  The projects ‘Product Indications’ and ‘Forecasting’ were concluded and closed during the Annual Meeting.

The ID5 partner offices also gave an update on new projects that were adopted at the 2018 Annual Meeting, including ‘3D Printing’, ‘Admissibility of Internet Information as Legitimate Disclosure’, ‘Design Patent Quality Management’, ‘ID5 Recommended Design Practices’ and ‘Remedies for Design Patent Infringement’.

A full day was dedicated to a User Session where the partner offices and user associations also focused on expectations for more efficient and user-friendly industrial design protection. The user associations LESI and UNION represented European users and were invited to play an active role in the session.

The EUIPO’s Executive Director, Christian Archambeau, congratulated JPO for the efforts made this year towards the organisation of the meeting. He also commended the partner offices for the remarkable cooperation efforts made during 2019.

The ID5 partners also agreed that the USPTO would be the host and secretariat for the ID5 Fora in 2020.

Updates on recent developments at the ID5 forum can be found through the ID5 website and by subscribing to the news feed.

In a joint declaration on the occasion of the twelfth plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), the two co-presidents of the assembly, Javi López (S&D, Spain) and Jorge Pizarro, insist that inequality “is the main challenge our democracies are facing” and point to the growing distrust in politicians and the subsequent rise of populism and nationalism.

They believe that reducing social inequalities and strengthening social cohesion should be a priority. Access to quality essential public services, such as education, health and justice, must therefore be guaranteed. Parliamentarians also propose working towards an economic model based on innovation and the circular economy, combined with progressive tax systems and an effective fight against fraud and evasion.

The text underlines the role of civil society in building democracy and respect for human rights and calls for political opponents, social leaders and activists to be able to operate safely.

Climate, natural disasters, wars and social injustice, causes of migration

Parliamentarians are seriously concerned about the worsening migration phenomenon in both regions and in the world as a whole, which they attribute to climate change, natural disasters, wars and political conflicts, but mostly to social injustice. This affects huge groups suffering from food insecurity, unemployment and violence, without support from the state.

They refer to the difficult situation in Venezuela, where more than 4.6 million people have fled the country, according to UN agencies.

To tackle the migration challenge, they demand political dialogue and financial support to the most affected countries. They also request more visibility and awareness to be raised about the political causes which have led to this situation.

Concern about protectionism and trade wars

The declaration highlights the commitment to a multilateral trade rule-based system that is open and transparent, reliant on WTO rules, as opposed to protectionism and trade wars. It emphasises that trade agreements must respect high social, environmental, labour and food safety standards.

Parliamentarians reiterate both regions support this approach and welcome progress to reach new deals, such as EU-Mercosur, update the existing ones or extend them to more countries.

COP25 in Madrid, tipping point against climate change

In view of accelerating climate change, the international community must intensify its efforts to combat it through concrete commitments. López and Pizarro support the European Parliament’s plan for the EU to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and set an emissions reduction target of 55% by 2030.

Resumption of EU-CELAC summits

Parliamentarians stress the importance of strengthening bi-regional cooperation at the highest level and, on this point, call on governments “to resume as soon as possible the EU-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) summits,” which were interrupted in 2015. The final objective, they add, is to achieve a genuine bi-regional strategic partnership.

Twelfth plenary session of EuroLat

The 150 members of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), 75 MEPs and 75 representatives of the Latin American and Caribbean parliaments, gathered in Panama City on 12 and 13 December for its twelfth plenary session. It was the first EuroLat meeting since the European elections in May 2019. Many of the members of the European Parliament delegation to the Assembly are new, and they are headed by a new European co-president, Javi López (S&D, ES).

Background

The Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) is the parliamentary institution of the Bi-regional Strategic Association established in June 1999 in the context of the EU-CELAC Summit (between European Union-Latin American and Caribbean). EuroLat was created in 2006. It meets in plenary session once a year.

EuroLat is a multilateral Parliamentary Assembly composed of 150 members, 75 from the European Parliament and 75 from the Latin America, including Parlatino (Latin American Parliament), Parlandino (Andean Parliament), Parlacen (Central American Parliament) and Parlasur (Mercosur Parliament). The Mexican and Chilean congresses are also represented via the EU/Mexico and EU/Chile joint parliamentary committees.

We had this morning again an important meeting with important topics on the agenda. Eurozone on the one hand and Brexit on the other hand. But first of all I would like to congratulate the Finnish Presidency, the Finnish rotating Presidency. The Prime Minister will have the occasion to give a message.

About the Eurozone summit, we had the occasion to discuss the strategic approach and how it is possible in the short term, and in the midterm, to try to make progress on this important topic. Point one: the ESM. As you know, we have reached a political agreement in the past based on this important project, on this important goal. It is a necessity for the Eurogroup to continue to work on the technical level in order to be able to implement this first important point. Another important point is the Banking Union. It is also important to continue all the efforts we need in order to make progress on this important topic. Third point, the budget for investment, competitiveness, convergence, and the BICC ( budgetary instrument for convergence and competitiveness). This project is very important, in our opinion, and we would like to have a strong ambition on that. It means that it will be important in parallel with the institutions with regard to the next European budget to try to finalise this important tool for the future. We are conscious that it is very important to maintain a strong political dialogue on this important point.

The fourth point I would like to mention is the international role of the euro. In my opinion, this is a very important objective. A few days ago, we have started again this process of regular inter-institutional meetings with the Commission, the President of the European Central Bank, and the President of the Eurogroup. It is our goal to try to develop a mid-term, a long-term vision also with regards to the international role of the euro. We will have the occasion in the next months to speak again in the European Council and see how it is possible to try to take steps in the right direction with regard to this important point.

Second important topic today is Brexit and the elections in the UK. I had the occasion this morning to congratulate Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It is a clear victory and we expect that the British Parliament will vote as soon as possible on this Withdrawal Agreement. It is very important in our opinion, because we are ready to start the next phase. We are ready also to defend and promote our European interests. The level playing field is a very important goal for us. We will try also to continue a good way of working. We have experimented with it in recent years by ensuring transparency between member states, and we would like to guarantee again the unity between member states. It is a very crucial goal in our opinion. Of course, we hope that it will be possible to keep in the future a very strong strategic relationship with the UK.

Ceci est le résumé de nos discussions. Vous le voyez, tant sur la question de la zone euro que sur la question du Brexit, nous avons eu durant plusieurs heures ce matin l´occasion d´échanger de manière substantielle et de progresser au travers des conclusions qui traduisent les orientations politiques du Conseil européen sur ce sujet. Je remercie encore une fois la présidence rotative finlandaise, je remercie encore une fois la présidente de la Commission européenne pour l’ensemble des contributions actives à nos délibérations et à nos travaux.

Visit the meeting page

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.
Place:
Europa building

Chair:
Jari Leppä, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry for Finland

Monday 16 December 2019

+/- 08.15
Arrivals

+/- 08.40
Doorstep by Minister Leppä

+/- 10.00
Beginning of the Council meeting (Roundtable Fisheries)
Adoption of the agenda

+/- 10.05
Adoption of legislative A items (public session)

+/- 10.10
Adoption of non-legislative A items

+/- 10.15
Council Regulation on Atlantic and North Sea TACs and Quotas for 2020

+/- 11.15
Regulation amending regulations 2016/1139 and 508/2014 as regards Eastern Baltic cod (public session)

+/- 11.50
Any other business: Pesticides minor use (public session)

+/- 12.05
Any other business: Information to consumers about the origin of food products (public session)

+/- 12.50
Any other business: Conclusions on the updated EU bioeconomy strategy (public session)

+/- 15.15
In the margins of Agrifish: Press conference on “World’s Forests for the Sustainable Future (live streaming)

+/- 15.50
Beginning of the Council meeting (Roundtable Agriculture)

+/- 15.55
Post 2020 CAP reform package: progress report (public session)
Regulation on CAP Strategic Plans
Regulation on financing, management and monitoring of the CAP
Regulation on common market organisation (CMO) of agricultural products

+/- 18.25
Any other business: Impact of US tariffs on European agrifood products

+/- 18.55
Press conference (live streaming)

Tuesday 17 December 2019

+/- 08.30
Arrivals

+/- 08.50
Doorstep by Minister Leppä

+/- 10.00
Beginning of the Council meeting (Roundtable Fisheries)
Adoption of the agenda

+/- 10.05
Council Regulation on Atlantic and North Sea TACs and Quotas for 2020: Presentation of a first compromise

+/- 11.00
Any other business: Budget flexibility within the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 2014-2020 (public session)

+/- ttbc
Atlantic and North Sea TACS and quotas: Final compromise

+/- ttbc
Press conference (live streaming)