On July 10, European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani, represented by his chief of staff Diego Canga, announced to the European Parliament that the European Commission had decided to move on to the “next step” in the process of drafting legislation concerning a statute for a European mutual society. The decision follows the many responses received during the consultation on mutuals in Europe.

Mr. Canga released the initial results of the consultation launched by the European Commission from March to June 2013 following the study of the current situation and prospects for mutuals in Europe. The consultation particularly focused on the creation of a statute for a European mutual society. According to Commissioner Tajani, the European Commission received 340 contributions, more than 65% of which approved of a statute for a European mutual. Several countries also demonstrated their eagerness to see such a statute created (Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Bulgaria); others, however, considered that this statute was unnecessary (Germany, the Netherlands). The final results of the consultation will be available in the coming weeks. Considering the positive results of the consultation and the European Parliament’s strong support of a statute for a European mutual, Mr. Tajani gave the order to proceed to the next step, which entails an impact assessment conducted by the European

Antonio Tajani, European Commissioner in the industry and the entrepreneurship

Commission, a “cumbersome process, but necessary and compulsory” that could lead to a legislative procedure. However, Mr. Canga was unable to announce a time line for the completion of this impact assessment.

MEPs Pervenche Bérès, Françoise Castex, Luigi Berlinguer and Régina Bastos congratulated the European Commission for this initiative and reiterated the European Parliament’s full support for the creation of a statute for a European mutual. They nonetheless stressed the importance of carrying out the impact assessment as soon as possible to ensure that the Commission’s legislative procedure is launched before the end of the current parliamentary term. Pervenche Bérès warned the Commission that “Failure to send a signal soon will discourage the mutual sector.”