10.3.81 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 51/5 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Directive amending the First Directive 73/239/EEC on the 
coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up 
and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance, particularly as 
regards tourist assistance 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 13 January 1981) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 57 (2) thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par­
liament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas First Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 
24 July 1973 on the coordination of laws, regulations 
and administrative provisions relating to the 
taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct 
insurance other than life assurance ('), as amended by 
Directive 76/580/EEC of June 1976 (2), eliminated 
certain divergencies betweeen the laws of Member 
States in order to facilitate the taking up and pursuit 
of the above business; 
Whereas considerable progress has been achieved in 
that area of business involving the provisions of 
benefits in kind; whereas such benefits are governed 
(') OJNo L228, 16. 8. 1973. 
(2) OJ No L 189,, 13. 7. 1976. by provisions which differ from one Member State to 
another; whereas those differences constitute a 
barrier to the exercise of the right of establishment; 
Whereas in order to eliminate the abovementioned 
barrier to the right of establishment it should be 
specified that an activity is not excluded from the 
application of Directive 73/239/EEC for the simple 
reason that it constitutes a benefit in kind solely or 
one for which the person providing it uses his own 
staff or equipment only; 
Whereas a new class of insurance consisting of 
assistance should be included in the above Directive; 
whereas certain forms of assistance which are 
provided most frequently in a number of Member 
States by motoring clubs and similar organizations 
should be excluded from the application of that 
Directive; 
Whereas an undertaking engaged in the business of 
assistance insurance must possess the means necessary 
for it to provide the benefits in kind which it proposes 
within an appropriate period of time; whereas special 
provisions should be laid down for calculating the 
solvency margin and the minimum amount of the 
guarantee fund which such undertaking must possess; 
Whereas certain transitional provisions are necessary 
in order to permit undertakings engaging solely in 
assistance insurance to adapt themselves to the 
application of the provisions of Directive 73/239/ 
EEC; 
No C 51/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 10.3.81 
Whereas it is necessary to keep up to date the 
provisions of that Directive concerning the legal 
forms which insurance undertakings may assume; 
whereas certain provisions of the Directive 
concerning the rules applicable to agencies or 
branches established within the Community and 
belonging to undertakings whose head offices are 
outside the Community should be amended in order 
to make them more consistent, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Article 1 
In this Directive the words 'First Directive' mean First 
Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 on 
the coordination of laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions relating to the taking-up 
and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other 
than life assurance. 
Article 2 
Article 1 of the First Directive is replaced by the 
following: 
1. This Directive concerns the taking-up and 
pursuit of the self-employed activity of direct 
insurance carried on by insurance undertakings 
which are established in a Member State or which 
wish to become established there. 
2. An activity shall not be excluded from the 
application of the Directive for the simple reason 
that the benefits are supplied in kind only or that 
the person providing them uses his own staff or 
equipment only. This applies especially to under­
takings entered into, subject to the prior payment 
of a fixed sum, to make a material aid immediately 
available to the holder of an assistance contract 
where the latter is in difficulties following the 
happening of a chance event in the cases and 
conditions set out in the contract. Assistance does 
not cover servicing and maintenance, nor after 
sales service. 
3. The classes of insurance referred to in 
paragraph 1 above are listed in the Annex to this 
Directive. 
Article 3 
Article 4 of the First Directive is supplemented as 
follows: 
(f) In Denmark 
De Danske Redningskorps Faellesforbund. Article 4 
In point A of the Annex to the First Directive the 
following is inserted between the words 'Legal 
expenses and costs of litigation' and the last sentence: 
18. Assistance 
— assistance for persons who get into difficulties 
while travelling or while away from home, 
— assistance in other circumstances. 
Articles 5 
Article 2 (2) of the First Directive is supplemented as 
follows: 
(e) operations of assistance to persons who are not 
holders of an assistance contract at the moment 
of the happening of the chance event or who 
are holders of a contract not concerning such 
an event. 
(f) assistance provided in the event of an accident 
involving the breakdown of a road vehicle and 
consisting solely of 
— a roadside breakdown service for which the 
organization providing the service uses, in 
most circumstances, its own staff and 
equipment; 
— the conveyance of the vehicle to the nearest 
and most practical location at which repairs 
may be carried out; and 
— the conveyance of the driver and passengers 
to the nearest place from which they may 
conveniently continue their journey by 
other means; 
However, this Directive applies to the above 
operations if they are carried out in close 
conjunction with the other operations referred to in 
the first indent of No 18 of point A of the Annex, 
provided: 
— the same staff, equipment or other means are 
used or may be used in order to comply with 
requests for assistance covered by one or other 
category of operations; or 
— the same operations are covered by the same 
contract as other operations to which this 
directive applies. 
Article 6 
In Articles 9 and 11(1) of the First Directive the 
following paragraph is inserted immediately before 
10.3.81 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 51/7 
the words 'and in addition, for the first three financial 
years': 
(ee) where the risks to be covered are classified 
under No 18 of point A of the Annex, the 
resources available" to it for providing 
assistance. 
Article 7 
Article 13 of the First Directive is replaced by the 
following: 
Member States shall collaborate closely with one 
another in supervising the financial position of 
authorized undertakings. Should the undertakings 
in question be authorized to cover the risks set out 
in the category listed under No 18 of point A of 
the Annex, Member States shall also collaborate in 
supervising the resources available to those under­
takings for carrying out the assistance operations 
they have undertaken to perform. 
Article 8 
Article 16 (3) of the First Directive is supplemented as 
follows: 
In the event of the risks listed under No 18 of 
point A of the Annex, the amount of claims paid 
used to calculate the second result shall be the costs 
borne by the undertaking in respect of claims for 
assistance. Such costs shall be calculated on the 
basis laid down by the supervisory authority of the 
Member State in whose territory the head office of 
the undertaking is situated. 
Article 9 
In Article 17 of the First Directive, the second indent 
of paragraph 2 (a) is replaced by the following: 
— 300 000 units of account in the case where all 
or some of the risks included in one of the 
classes listed in point A of the Annex under 
Nos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16 and 18 are 
covered. 
Article 10 
Article 19 of the First Directive is replaced by the 
following: 
1. Each Member State shall require every under­
taking whose head office is situated in its territory 
to produce an annual account covering all types of operations, of its financial situation, solvency and, 
as regards cover for risks listed under No 18 of 
point A of the Annex, other resources available to 
them for meeting their liabilities. 
2. Member States shall require undertakings 
operating in their territory to render periodically 
the returns, together with statistical documents, 
which are necessary for the purposes of supervision 
and, as regards cover for risks listed under No 18 
of point A of the Annex, to indicate the resources 
available to them for meeting their liabilities. The 
competent supervisory authorities shall furnish each 
other with the documents and information 
necessary for exercising supervision. 
Article 11 
In the eighth indent of Article 8 (a) of the First 
Directive the words 'cooperatieve vereniging' are 
deleted. 
Article 12 
Article 26 of the First Directive is replaced by the 
following: 
1. 'Undertakings which have sought or obtained 
an authorization from two or more Member States 
may apply for the following advantages which may 
only be granted jointly: 
(a) that the solvency margin referred to in Article 
25 be calculated in relation to the entire 
business which they undertake within the 
Community; in such case, account shall be 
taken only of the business effected by all the 
agencies or branches established within the 
Community for that calculation; 
(b) that the deposit referred to in Article 23 (2) (e) 
be lodged in one of those States only; 
(c) that the assets representing the guarantee fund 
shall be kept in any one of the Member States 
in which they carry on business. 
2. An application for the advantages provided 
for in paragraph 1 shall be submitted to the 
competent authorities of all the Member States 
from which the undertaking in question has sought 
or obtained an authorization. The application shall 
indicate the authority responsible for verifying in 
the future the solvency of agencies or branches 
established within the Community with respect to 
their entire business. The choice of authority made 
by the undertaking shall set out the reasons on 
which it is based. The deposit shall be lodged with 
the corresponding Member State. 
No C 51/8 Official journal of the European Communities 10.3.81 
3. The advantages provided for in paragraph 1 
shall be granted only with the consent of the 
competent authorities of all the Member States to 
which an application has been submitted. They 
shall take effect on the date on which the 
supervisory authority selected has undertaken, vis­
a-vis the other supervisory authorities, to verify the 
solvency of the agencies or branches established in 
the Community with respect to their entire 
business. The supervisory authority selected shall 
obtain from the other Member States the infor­
mation necessary for verifying the overall solvency 
of the agencies or branches established in their 
territory. 
4. The advantages conferred pursuant to this 
Article shall, on the initiative of one or more of the 
Member States concerned, be withdrawn simul­
taneously by all the Member States concerned. 
Article 13 
The second paragraph of Article 27 of the First 
Directive js replaced by the following: 
As regards the application of Article 20, where an 
undertaking qualifies for the advantages provided 
for in Article 26 (1) above, the authority 
responsible for verifying the solvency of agencies or 
branches established within the Community with 
respect to their entire business shall be the 
authority of the State in which the head office of 
the Community undertaking is situated. 
Transitional provisions 
Article 14 
1. Member States shall allow undertakings which 
do not carry on insurance in their territories in any 
class other than assistance a period of five years, 
commencing on the date of adoption of this 
Directive, in order to comply with the requirements 
of Articles 16 and 17 of the First Directive. 
2. Furthermore, Member States may allow any 
undertakings referred to in paragraph 1, which upon 
the expiry of the five-year period have not fully 
established the margin of solvency, a further period 
not exceeding two years in which to do so provided 
that such undertakings have, in accordance with 
Article 20 of the First Directive, submitted for the 
approval of the supervisory authority the measures 
which they propose to take for such purpose. 3. Any undertaking referred to in paragraph 1 
which wishes to extend its business within the 
meaning of Article 8 (2) or Article 10 of the First 
Directive may do so only on conditions that it 
complies forthwith with the rules of the Directive in 
question. 
4. Any undertaking referred to in paragraph 1 
having a structure different form those referred to in 
Article 8 of the First Coordination Directive may 
continue for a period of three years from the date of 
adoption of this Directive to carry its existing business 
in the legal form in which it exists on that date. 
Article 15 
Member States shall allow agencies and branches 
referred to in Title III of the First Directive which 
provide in their territories assistance insurance only a 
maximum period of five years commencing on the 
date of adoption of this Directive in order to comply 
with the requirements of Article 25 of the First 
Directive provided such agencies or branches do not 
extend their business pursuant to Article 10 (2) of the 
First Directive. 
Final provisions 
Article 16 
Member States shall amend their national provisions 
in order to comply with this Directive before 
31 December 1982 and shall notify the Commission 
thereof forthwith. The provisions thus amended shall, 
subject to Articles 12 and 13 above, be brought into 
force before 31 December 1983. 
Article 17 
Upon notification of this Directive, Member States 
shall forward to the Commission the texts of the main 
provisions laid down by law, regulation or 
administrative provision which they adopt in the field 
covered by this Directive. 
Article 18 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.