AMICE, the European Association of Mutual Insurers and Insurance Cooperatives has published a political manifesto entitled “United in Diversity” laying out the sector’s proposal for political action to enable the sector to fully exploit its potential. The manifesto has been produced by UK based advocacy organisation, Mutuo, on behalf of AMICE members.
The European Mutual Manifesto was presented in Nice, France, by AMICE President Hilde Vernaillen to the 200 delegates at the association’s 2014 Congress.
“Mutuals and cooperatives do not need, and are not asking for, favours from the European Commission or Parliament”, says Hilde Vernaillen President of AMICE since 2013.
“But they need to be understood and to work in a fair regulatory and business environment.”
The Manifesto lays out how mutual and cooperatives are good for markets and for competition. Their different ownership structure allows them to focus on their customers rather than on value for their shareholders and they can follow longer-term and sustainability-oriented strategies. Mutuals and cooperatives also help to spread risk in economies and provide stability through diversity.
“We believe that it is in the European interest that the Commission and the Parliament understand the mutual and cooperative insurance sector better, value the member-oriented services that it brings to citizens and support the diversity that mutuals and cooperatives bring to the markets in which they operate,” adds the AMICE President.
An action plan with projects in three areas – policy actions, institutional actions, and influencing actions – invites policymakers at all levels to become agents of change towards improving the competitiveness of the Single Market and the well-being of European citizens by empowering mutuals and cooperatives to play their full role.