Alfred Sant asks EC to delay the implementation of the insurance distribution directive by twelve months

Maltese MEP Alfred Sant has asked EC Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis to reconsider the application of a one-year delay for the implementation of the Insurance Distribution Directive legislation for a period of twelve months as requested by the Maltese industry. Dr Sant intervened on behalf of ‘The Malta Insurance Association’ who earlier this week appealed for interventions on their behalf with the Commission to delay the implementation of the Insurance Legislation stressing the lack of time for the correct implementation of the Insurance Legislation which has been adopted by the EC last week.
The Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) aims to establish the conditions necessary for fair competition between distributors of insurance products and to create more opportunities for cross-border business.
The Maltese MEP said he was confident Mr Dombrovskis will agree that in the insurance sector, it is just and proper that the legitimate interests and reasonable claims of insurance providers in Malta be taken into account.
The Maltese MEP said all players in the insurance sector do not oppose the changes in any way but they are pleading that they need more time. It is of utmost importance for these changes to be uniformly implemented across Europe, without creating discrepancies among companies in different Member States and of different size. Only a realistic transposition period would allow this.
“I am confident that you will agree to this proposal given your commitments to the improvement and enhancements of SMEs in Europe.” Alfred Sant told Mr. Dombrovskis.
Dr Sant had already highlighted the concerns of the Insurance industry, in particular from Malta during the ECON Committee of the European Parliament on 20 June of this year. He had stressed with Mr Valdis Dombrovsksis that the Commission’s timeline for the finalisation of the delegated acts would leave too little time for the Member States and their insurance sectors for their implementation.
In his letter, he recalled that “in the course of that hearing, I pointed out that the Commission’s timeline for the finalisation of the delegated acts would leave too little time for the Member States and their insurance sectors to implement on the ground, the updates of the Insurance Distribution Directive by 23 February 2018, creating difficulties related to the legal certainty to effectively transpose the rules into the national legislation. Particularly badly hit by this approach will be SMEs in insurance, which predominate in Malta, but not only there.
Therefore, I called upon the Commission to consider a possible postponement of the implementation deadline. In your reply to my question, even if you had agreed with me on the very ambitious nature of the timetable set in the legislation, you expressed strong opposition to a possible postponement arguing that this would send the wrong signal to the sector.”
Dr Sant said that now that the EC has adopted the delegated acts, the difficulties, then already forecasted by the Insurance sector, have materialised. Many insurance companies and associations raised this problem, not only from Malta, but also from other Member States.
The Insurance Distribution Directive affects the entire distribution chain for insurance products, with many different stakeholders involved, and necessitates significant changes, mainly for SME operators. The industry will need to revise and adapt existing processes and policies, while designing and implementing new ones in a number of different areas. Even the IT systems will have to be changed in order to support the changes in the processes that the legislation requires, with significant costs for the companies, the Maltese MEP told the EC Vice-President.

Maltese Version – ALFRED SANT JITLOB LILL-KUMMISSJONI EWROPEA TISMA’ T-TALBIET RAĠONEVOLI TAL-FORNITURI TAL-INSURANCE F’MALTA

Alfred Sant talab formalment lill-Kummissjoni Ewropea biex tikkunsidra li ttawwal iż-żmien tal-implimentazzjoni tad-Direttiva tad-Distribuzzjoni tal-Insurance bi tnax-il xahar, skont ix-xewqa tal-industrija Maltija. Dr Sant intervjena f’isem l-‘Assoċjazzjoni Maltija tal-Insurance’ li aktar kmieni din il-ġimgħa appellat lill-Ewroparlamentari Maltin biex jintervjenu mal-Kummissjoni Ewropea għan-nom tagħhom. Huma jixtiequ li jitwal iż-żmien tal-implimentazzjoni tal-liġi tal-insurance u saħqu li ż-żmien mogħti huwa qasir wisq biex issir implimentazzjoni tajba tal-liġi tal-Insurance li ġiet addottata mill-KE l-ġimgħa l-oħra.
Id-Direttiva tad-Distribuzzjoni tal-Insurance għandha l-għan li tistabbilixxi l-kondizzjonijiet neċessarji għal kompetizzjoni ġusta bejn id-distributuri tal-prodotti tal-insurance u toħloq aktar opportunitajiet għal negozju fi ħdan il-pajjiżi membri tal-UE.
Dr Alfred Sant kiteb lill-Viċi President tal-KE Valdis Dombrovskis u qallu li huwa ġust u xieraq li l-interessi leġittimi u t-talbiet raġonevoli tal-fornituri tal-insurance f’Malta jingħataw widen.
“Dawk kollha fis-settur tal-insurance bl-ebda mod m’huma qed jopponu għall-bidliet. Huma jeħtieġu biss aktar żmien. Huwa ta’ importanza kbira li dawn il-bidliet ikunu implimentati b’mod ugwali fl-Ewropa, mingħajr il-ħolqien ta’ diskrepanzi fost kumpaniji differenti u ta’ daqs differenti fl-istati membri. Perjodu ta’ żmien realistiku biss jista’ jaċċerta li l-affarijiet iseħħu b’dan il-mod. Jien konfidenti li se taqbel ma’ din il-proposta mnebbaħ mill-impenn tiegħek favur it-titjib tan-negozji żgħar u medji fl-Ewropa.” Alfred Sant qal lil Valdis Dombrovskis.
Dr Sant kien diġa` tkellem dwar it-tħassib tal-industrija tal-Insurance f’Malta fil-Kumitat ECON tal-Parlament Ewropew fl-20 ta’ Ġunju. Dak inhar kien għamilha ċara lil Valdis Dombrovskis li ż-żmien li l-Kummissjoni kienet qed taħseb biex tagħti għall-iffinalizzar tal-atti ddelegati kienu se jħallu ftit żmien wisq għall-istati membri u għas-settur tal-insurance tagħhom biex jimplimentawhom.
Fl-ittra tiegħu, Dr Sant fakkar id-diskors li kien qal: “Matul is-seduta, jien semmejt li ż-żmien li l-Kummissjoni qed tagħti għall-iffinalizzar tal-atti ddelegati se jħalli ftit żmien wisq lill-istati membri u lis-settur tal-insurance tagħhom biex jimplimentaw b’mod realistiku, l-aġġornamenti tad-Direttiva tad-Distribuzzjoni tal-Insurance sat-23 ta’ Frar 2018. Dan se joħloq diffikultajiet legali biex b’mod effiċenti r-regoli jidħlu fil-leġiżlazzjoni nazzjonali. B’mod partikolari, l-agħar li se jiġu milquta b’dan il-metodu huma l-insurances ta’ skala żgħira, li huma dawk li l-aktar għandna f’Malta, iżda li ma jeżistux f’Malta biss.
Għalhekk qed niġbed l-attenzjoni tal-Kummissjoni biex possibilment tikkonsidra li tipposponi d-data finali tal-implimentazzjoni. Fit-tweġiba tiegħek għal mistoqsija tiegħi, anki jekk qbilt li l-kalendarju li ġie mfassal għal-leġiżlazzjoni kien ambizzjuż wisq, int esprimejt l-oppożizzjoni tiegħek għal posponiment fuq l-argument li din tista’ tagħti sinjali ħżiena lis-settur.”
Dr Sant qal li issa li l-KE addottat l-atti ddelegati, id-diffikultajiet imbassra mis-settur tal-Insurance saru realta`. Ħafna kumpaniji tal-insurance u assoċjazzjonijiet qajmu din il-problema, mhux f’Malta biss, iżda anki fi stati membri oħra.
Id-Direttiva tad-Distribuzzjoni tal-Insurance taffettwa l-katina kollha ta’ distribuzzjoni tal-prodotti tal-insurance, fiha hemm involuti ħafna partijiet ikkonċernati, u teħtieġ bidliet sostanzjali, ħafna minnhom mill-operaturi żgħar jew medji. L-industrija se jkollha tirrevedi u tadatta proċessi eżistenti, fl-istess ħin għandha tfassal u timplimenta oħrajn ġodda f’numru ta’ oqsma differenti. Anki s-sistemi tal-IT se jkollhom jinbidlu biex jappoġġjaw it-tibdiliet tal-proċessi li l-leġiżlazzjoni teħtieġ. Dan ifisser spejjeż sostanzjali għal kumpaniji, qal Alfred Sant lil Viċi-President tal-KE.