Martin Klein
Managing Director at Votum & Member of FECIF Board of Directors

Gold-plating continues to undermine the single European market

Is Germany on its way to becoming a planned economy by introducing a commission ceiling in the insurance industry?

German governments like to see themselves in the position of flagship Europeans. Also, the current coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats committed itself to a 1:1 implementation of European regulations at the beginning of its term of office two years ago.

The EU Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) is based on a very diligent coordination process at European level, which has already focused to a large extent on safeguarding consumer interests. To this end, the Directive already entails concrete guidelines, which have been elaborated in detail by the respective Delegated Regulations. In total, it took three years between the first draft of the European Commission in July 2012 and the end of the Trilogue. Finally, the IDD came into force in February 2016. The members states were granted 2 years to implement the directive at a national level. It would have been better for all concerned, if the member states had just limited themselves to recognising the provided European legislative framework as binding. The only decision that then had to be made was whether to continue to allow several remuneration systems for insurance intermediaries or...

The European Federation of Financial Advisers and Financial Intermediaries (FECIF) was chartered in June 1999 for the defence and promotion of the role of financial advisers and intermediaries in Europe.

FECIF, the only body representing European financial advisers and intermediaries, it is based in Brussels, the heart of Europe.