Commission Decision
of 28 July 2003
on the application of Council Directive 72/166/EEC relating to checks on insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles
(notified under document number C(2003) 2626)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2003/564/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 72/166/EEC of 24 April 1972 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles and to the enforcement of the obligation to insure against such liability(1), as last amended by Directive 90/232/EEC(2), and in particular Articles 2(2) and 7(3) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) The relationships between the national insurers' bureaux of the Member States, as defined in Article 1(3) of Directive 72/166/EEC (hereinafter, the bureaux), and those of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway, Slovakia and Switzerland were governed by agreements supplementary to the Uniform Agreement on the Green Card System between national insurers' bureaux of 2 November 1951 (Supplementary Agreements). These Supplementary Agreements provided for the practical arrangements to abolish insurance checks in the case of vehicles normally based in the territories of all these countries.
(2) The Commission subsequently adopted Decisions requiring each Member State, in accordance with Directive 72/166/EEC, to refrain from making checks on insurance against civil liability in respect of vehicles which are normally based in another Member State or in the territories of the abovementioned non-member countries and which are subject of the Supplementary Agreements.
(3) The national insurers' bureaux reviewed and unified the texts of the Supplementary Agreements and replaced them by a single agreement (the Multilateral Guarantee Agreement) signed in Madrid on 15 March 1991, in accordance with the principles laid down in Article 2(2) of Directive 72/166/EEC. This Multilateral Guarantee Agreement was enclosed to the Commission Decision 91/323/EEC(3).
(4) The Commission subsequently adopted Decisions 93/43/EEC(4), 97/828/EC(5), 99/103/EC(6) and 2001/160/EC(7) requiring each Member State, in accordance with Directive 72/166/EEC, to refrain from making checks on insurance against civil liability in respect of vehicles which are normally based in another Member State or in the territories of, respectively, Iceland, Slovenia, Croatia and Cyprus.
(5) The Agreement between the National Insurers' Bureaux of the Member States of the European Economic Area and other Associate States was concluded on 30 May 2002 in Rethymno (Crete), in accordance with the principles laid down in Article 2(2) of Directive 72/166/EEC. The first Appendix of that agreement incorporates all the provisions of the Uniform Agreement between Bureaux and of the Multilateral Guarantee Agreement into a single document (the Internal Regulations). These Internal Regulations replaces these two latter agreements from 1 August 2003.
(6) Therefore Decisions 91/323/EEC, 93/43/EEC, 97/828/EC, 99/103/EC and 2001/160/EC should be repealed on 1 August 2003,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
As from 1 August 2003, each Member State shall refrain from making checks on insurance against civil liability in respect of vehicles which are normally based in another Member State or in the territory of the Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland, which are the subject of the Agreement of 30 May 2002 between the National Insurers' Bureaux of the Member States of the European Economic Area and other Associate States, attached as an appendix to the Annex to this Decision.
Article 2
Decisions 91/323/EEC, 93/43/EEC, 97/828/EC, 99/103/EC and 2001/160/EC are repealed on 1 August 2003.
Article 3
Member States shall forthwith inform the Commission of measures taken to apply this Decision.
Article 4
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 28 July 2003.