The most important annual meeting of the Croatian insurers, the "Croatian Insurance Days", took place in Opatija, Croatia, on 7 - 9 November.

Fausto PARENTE, Executive Director, EIOPA, Ante ZIGMAN, DSc, President of the Management Council, Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency and William VIDONJA, Head of Conduct of Business, Insurance Europe are the keynote speakers of the main conference.

Over three hundred participants, including insurance and reinsurance experts, regulators, supervisors and other accompanying financial institutions from the national, regional and European levels are attending the event. XPRIMM Publication are supporting the event as Media Partners and present at the press stand the latest issues of the insurance reports it produces.

As every year, the event organized by the Croatian Association of Insurers will bring into the limelight the main trends in local insurance market, as well as the issues of concern or the changes brought by the updates in the European insurance related legislation.

Follow us to read the main statements at the Conference:

Dr. Sc. Damir ZORIC, Croatian Insurance Bureau

• Knowledge is becoming an asset of tremendous importance these days; only getting in contact with our peers and learning from their experience we can find good solutions to our own issues. This is why professional events like this are increasingly important and I hope that all that we will learn during these day of conference will prove useful for us all. I would also thank to all those who contributed with articles to the book we are releasing today, as well as to our media partners who are helping us to spread knowledge. 

Ph.D. Ante ZIGMAN, President of the Governing Council, Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency

• Croatia is not among the top countries in insurance terms; this is challenging but also may be an opportunity;
• Croatians spend close to 400 euro/ year for insurance, which is far less than the European average; among others this means we need to find ways of encouraging people to use insurance products 
• The market has grown but also the market concentration- the largest 3 companies account for nearly 50% of the market GWP; this may create some competition problems as the increasing concentration comes mostly from the decreasing number of players given by the decision of diverse groups of transforming their subsidiaries here in branches 
• There are several factors impacting on Croatian insurers ' investment policies- the low sovereign rating of our country also affects the investment rate of our state bonds; in the other hand real estate assets have a quite high volatility, although they have produced very good yields etc. We, as market authority are closely monitoring the trends recorded by different classes of assets and the potential impact on the insurers ' books

Fausto PARENTE, Executive Director, EIOPA

• Solvency II was definitely a success. Yet, being a regulation of utmost importance, it needs permanent evaluation and possibly adjustments 
• Solvency 2 review in 2020 - there some changes in preparation. It will be not a revolution, but an evolution 
• Long term insurance investments and liabilities, reporting rules and standards are among the top issues under review. Also we need to improve the tools that allow us to supervise from a macroprudential perspective.
• Proportionality is a key factor in applying Solvency 2 - there are areas where some implications are needed and this is what we intend to do, thus reducing the burden on the industry. EIOPA will soon publish an opinion on this issue. 
• Finally, convergence is another issue under scrutiny. With companies being active in several markets throughout the EU, we need to make sure that the single market is really functioning according its name. Regulations enforced in different geographies of the Union have to provide for a good and effective cooperation among the supervisors of the home and host countries

William VIDONJA, Head of Conduct of Business, Insurance Europe

• The present landscape: a lot of new regulations already implemented + regulations adopted, so on to be implemented + totally new regulations presented, but not yet adopted + a long list of reviews in the pipeline ; of course, all these mean a lot of secondary regulations 
• The pace at which regulations change is very high, requiring a lot of effort to comply. The biggest problem is, though that in some points there is not a quality regulation- some things are misleading, some are redundant etc.
• PRIIPs for KID was not designed with insurance products in mind, but for investment products, which is the reason for it not working well enough; as it is now is doing more harm than good and doesn't serve consumers 
• GDPR brought in increased compliance risk and strong impact on innovation ( for ex blockchain technology and the right to be forgotten )
• IDD - there is an issue of information overload - there over 160 pieces of information that have to be presented to consumers in the precontract stage; this makes for consumers impossible to really compare products and choose, especially online
• There is a chance to correct many things, provided that insurers join forces 

• In some respects Croatian insurers need to expand their business abroad seeking for growth opportunities 
• The Croatian market ended last year with good results, but there are some challenging issues ahead, not only for the insurance industry but for the country itself
• Last year the insurance market grew at a higher pace than the Croatian economy, which is encouraging for the industry which aims to get closer to the EU standards 
• New regulations are challenging and as to the market's older issues; furthermore, they are increasing bureaucracy which already was considered a market problem in some processes
• Insurers needs to make people better understand what they are buying; the new requirements concerning information provided to customers are already one step above for the less evolved markets, where people are not well acquainted with the insurance concept itself 
• Digitalization is no longer a problem of choice- it is a living reality and we have not only to adapt and keep pace,but also try to innovate