Report of the Working Party on Europe

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The work of the working party on Europe for GISG last year concentrated on the two major aspects which were felt, at the time, to be of particular interest to actuaries, namely:-- the implications of recent major Directives affecting, or likely to affect, non-life insurance and non-life actuarial practice; and- a comparative study of current actuarial aspects of European markets and practices, involving extensive overseas research.It was decided, last year that it would be appropriate for the working parties endeavours to continue. The Framework Directive and the Accounts Directive have, at the time of writing, still not completed the process of Community review to which they are being subjected. However, it has been possible for the working party to comment upon the latest drafts, identifying some of the issues which arise for general insurance actuaries. It was thought that many of the issues behind the Framework Directive could be identified by conducting a study into "forum shopping". It was found that the number and complexity of issues arising made significant change in the short term unlikely but the issues would be very real for a new venture (perhaps for a European bank moving into insurance) or for American or Japanese entrants.Given the changes which have been occurring across Europe in the distribution of Life and Pensions products and the appalling results of many carriers, it is perhaps surprising that the changes in distribution of general insurance products has been relatively modest to-date. An attempt has been made to identify the emerging trends across the community for the distribution of personal lines general insurance products: the working party look forward to hearing more about these trends from overseas delegates to the conference or from those UK actuaries with overseas experience.