EU-expert group mooted to share data and risk modelling: EIOPA

Private insurance alone will not be sufficient to protect society against the financial consequences of future pandemics, according to the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).

The authority outlined options for developing shared resilience solutions for pandemic risk and argued that public and private sector involvement will be needed to tackle any future challenge, in its ‘Issues Paper’ published July 27, 2020.

The body said that the combined efforts of the two sectors would need to work on different insurance models and coverage to ensure a robust response to disruptive events such as COVID-19 that may occur in future.

Discussions should look at whether cover should be mandatory, and whether payouts should be based on a pre-agreed parameter or index, EIOPA said, as well as examining the different ways the sectors could work together. Potential options include establishing an EU-expert group for data sharing and risk modelling, and creating a platform for public and private coordination on prevention measures. Different potential roles are considered for how the European Union can contribute towards solutions.

EIOPA added that the scope of the shared resilience framework could be expanded to tackle resilience gaps from systemic cyber, climate change impacts in natural catastrophes and terrorism.

Gabriel Bernardino, chairman of EIOPA, said: “It is of the utmost importance not only to have a debate about how our society can better react to future disruptive events such as COVID-19 but also to come up with a way forward. While it is clear that insurance cannot cover the full costs of pandemics, insurers and reinsurers should be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Furthermore, I strongly believe that shared resilience solutions can play an important role in mitigating economic fragmentation throughout the European Union and should be part of the recovery efforts towards a European Union that protects its businesses and its citizens. We invite views on the options raised in the paper.”