The Solvency II standard formula charges on infrastructure investments will be revised before 2018, as part of the European Commission efforts to take the capital markets union off the ground.
Commissioner Jonathan Hill confirmed the intention to anticipate the planned review of the formula to encourage investment in infrastructure, in a written response to the European Parliament.
"Given the Commission's objective to boost growth and jobs in Europe, I too am eager to stimulate investment by insurers in this asset class in a sustainable way," he wrote in a letter seen by Insurance Asset Risk.
"I have asked my services to start work on an infrastructure definition to have a more risk-sensitive treatment of infrastructure investments," he added.
As the rules currently stand, infrastructure attracts the same capital charge as corporate bonds or equities, depending on whether insurers invest through debt or participate directly in a project.
The charges on corporate bonds vary according to rating and duration, whereas the charge on equity investment can be as high as 49%.
There have been numerous calls from the industry to review the charges on infrastructure, but Eiopa opposed them on the grounds that there was insufficient data to justify treating it as a separate asset class.
In December, a spokesperson for Eiopa told Insurance Asset Risk that the authority advocates the need to maintain a sound and prudent approach to the calibration of risks in Solvency II, backed with sufficient evidence.
"If the relevant decision by the EU political institutions is taken, Eiopa stands ready to do the further technical work both on securitisations and infrastructure in order to refine the calibrations going forward," the spokesperson added.