On 26 February 2014, a plenary session of the European Parliament voted on the proposals to revise the Insurance Mediation Directive (the revised Directive commonly referred to as IMD2). However, despite certain amendments being approved by the Parliament, a vote to approve the latest draft was deferred and the draft was referred back to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. The final text of the revised Directive will need to be agreed in trilogue negotiations by the European Commission, Council of the European Union and European Parliament. The Council has published a note containing a summary of the outcome of the Parliament’s reading of the Directive. A copy of the note can be found here.

The Note records the Rapporteur’s view that adoption of the revised Directive is unlikely during the current Parliament (due to end at the end of May 2014). Furthermore, a recital has been introduced to the draft Directive seeking to ensure alignment between IMD2 and the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID 2) with respect to the sale of insurance investment products. This demonstrates the Parliament’s intention that there should be a level playing field between all intermediaries selling financial products. It also means that these Directives will now largely be considered as a package, which could lead to further delays.

We will continue to monitor developments on the progress of IMD2 and provide further updates where appropriate.