L79/8 Official Journal of the European Union 25.3.2015 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2015/498 of 24 March 2015 laying down implementing technical standards with regard to the supervisory approval procedure to use undertaking-specific parameters in accordance with Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Directive 2009/138/EC of 25 November 2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (Solvency II) (), and in particular Article 111(2) thereof, Whereas: (1)  Applications to use undertaking-specific parameters by insurance and reinsurance undertakings should be prepared on a prudent and realistic basis, and should include all relevant facts necessary for an assessment by the supervisory authorities. It should include an assessment of how the criteria for completeness, accuracy and appropriateness of the data used will be fulfilled. (2)  The information to be included by an insurance or reinsurance undertaking in its application should be specified to ensure a consistent basis for decision-making by supervisory authorities. (3)  The application to use undertaking-specific parameters is a strategic decision for risk management and capital planning purposes. Based on the ultimate responsibility of the administrative, management or supervisory body for compliance as set out in Article 40 of Directive 2009/138EC, its involvement in the decision-making process on the application should be carefully considered. (4)  Rules should be set out for supervisory authorities to be in a position to adopt adequate procedures. Detailed rules on the assessment and the approval of the applications by the supervisory authorities should be laid down. They should be adapted proportionate to the complexity of the applications to manage the approval process. The approval process may take less than six months where proportionate to the complexity. (5)  The decision to apply for the use of undertaking-specific parameters should not be dictated only by lowering the capital requirement. The use of undertaking-specific parameters should however not prevent an undertaking from reverting to the standard parameters, if the undertaking-specific parameters are no longer reflecting its risk profile, in which case the undertaking should inform the supervisory authority of the reasons why these parameters are not appropriate anymore. (6)  The procedures for approval envisage ongoing communication between the supervisory authorities and insurance and reinsurance undertakings. That includes communication before a formal application is submitted to the supervisory authorities and, after an application has been approved, through the supervisory review process. Such ongoing communication is necessary to ensure that supervisory assessments are based on relevant and up- to-date information. (7)  As part of the approval process, supervisory authorities should, inter alia, assess the data used to calculate the undertaking-specific parameters and they should verify if the data used comply with the data quality criteria set out in Article 219 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/35 (3. To fulfil the requirement for the completeness of the data under Article 219 of that Regulation, the undertaking should use the undertaking- specific parameter values obtained by using the approved method with the most recent relevant data. (8)  Insurance and reinsurance undertakings may only replace a subset of standard parameters within the underwriting risk modules by undertaking-specific parameters. This means that some of the inputs used to calculate those parameters will be similar or identical to the inputs used to calculate technical provisions. () OJL335,17.12.2009, p. 1. () Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/35 of 10 October 2014 supplementing Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (Solvency 1II) (O] L 12, 17.1.2015,p. 1).