18. 4. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 102/11 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive setting up an Insurance Committee (*) 
(91/C 102/05) 
On 30 October 1990, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 57(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing 
the Committee's work on the subject, drew up its Opinion on 6 February 1991. (Rapporteur: 
Mr R. Pelletier). 
At its 284th plenary session (meeting of 28 February 1991) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion unanimously, with 9 abstentions. 
1. Article 42 of the draft Third Council Directive on 
direct insurance other than life assurance makes express 
provision for an Insurance Committee empowered to 
formulate certain technical adjustments to the two earli­
er directives and, more generally, to bring the directives 
into line with developments in the insurance sector. 
2. Similar provisions will probably be incorporated 
in the forthcoming Third Council Directive on life 
assurance, currently at the drafting stage, as stated in 
the general introduction to the draft Directive to which 
this Opinion refers. 
3. Closer cooperation between the Commission and 
the national supervisory authorities is highly desirable, 
but the Committee wonders what form such cooper­
ation should take. 
In fact, the Conference of Insurance Supervisory Autho­
rities of the Member States possesses long-standing 
machinery for cooperation between national supervis­
ory authorities. 
The Conference now holds twice-yearly plenary meet­
ings which the Commission attends. Business is conduc­
ted through a large number of efficient working groups, 
who are able to consult economic actors. 
Without in any way challenging the existence of the 
Conference of Supervisory Authorities, which is of 
unquestionable technical and practical value, thought 
should be devoted to the form the future Insurance 
Committee might take, together with its relations with 
the Conference, since certain of their activities may 
overlap. 4. Article 155 of the Treaty of Rome stipulates that 
the Commission shall 'exercise the powers conferred 
on it by the Council for the implementation of the rules 
laid down by the latter'. 
The new Article 145, supplemented by the Single Euro­
pean Act, stipulates that the Council shall 'confer on 
the Commission, in the acts which the Council adopts, 
powers for the implementation of the rules which the 
Council lays down'. 
A plethora of variegated committees has come into 
being since 1957 under these provisions, particularly in 
the agricultural sector. 
In order to clarify the situation, Council Decision 87/ 
373/EEC of 13 July 1987 (2) limited the number of 
different forms which such committees might take. 
For the implementation of Council decisions, this strict 
legal framework authorizes five types of committee, 
grouped under three distinct procedures: 
— Advisory Committees (procedure I), 
— Management Committees [procedure II, with vari­
ants (a) and (b)], 
— Regulatory Committees [procedure III, with vari­
ants (a) and (b)]. 
Under procedure III, Commission proposals must 
secure a qualified majority within the Committee before 
implementation. 
It no majority is obtained, the proposal is submitted to 
the Council. 
At this stage, the Council must take a decision within 
a given time limit (three months) and may not amend 
the Commission proposal except by unanimous agree­
ment (Article 149 of the Treaty). 
(!) OJ No C 230, 15. 9. 1990, p. 5. (2) OJ No L 197, 18. 7. 1987, p. 33. 
No C 102/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 18. 4. 91 
Under procedure III variant (a): 
If on the expiry of the period laid down the Council 
has not acted, the Commission may implement the 
proposed secondary legislation. 
Under procedure III variant (b), if the Council fails to 
act within the time limit set, the Commission may 
only implement its proposal insofar as it has not been 
opposed by a simple majority of Member States (7 out 
of 12 members of the Council). 
5. Prior to the decision of 13 July 1987, an Advisory 
Committee already existed for the banking sector, 
broadly similar to the procedure I approach. 
Since the Council decision in 1987, the Commission 
has endeavoured to persuade the Council to apply 
procedures vesting it with the widest possible executive 
powers. 
There are no legal criteria for preferring one procedure 
or variant to another. 
The draft Directive proposes the setting up of an 
Insurance Committee under procedure III (a), which 
would be a Regulatory Committee with the following 
aims: 
— to facilitate the harmonized implementation of 
insurance Directives, by means of regular consul­
tation on the practical problems involved, 
— to advise on amendments or additions to these 
Directives, 
— to assist the Commission in preparing new pro­
posals in the insurance sector, 
— to suggest technical adjustments in respect of exist­
ing Directives: 
a) to amend the titles of branches, or groups of 
branches, of the insurance sector, 
b) to modify the components of company solvency 
margins, 
Done at Brussels, 28 February 1991. c) to change the list of assets admissible as techni­
cal funds, 
d) to codify insurance texts, 
— to implement reciprocal arrangements with third 
countries. 
Under the proposal, the Committee would be composed 
exclusively of representatives of national supervisory 
authorities; it would be chaired by the Commission, 
which would also service it. 
6. In any case, in the light of the Council Decision 
of 13 July 1987, the Economic and Social Committee 
considers that the Commission's implementing measur­
es, tantamount to regulatory powers, may only be exer­
cised under procedure III variant (b), and not variant 
(a). 
7. More generally, in view of the role which the 
future Insurance Committee will be required to play in 
the field of secondary legislation, the ESC is uncertain 
what role the advisory bodies provided for by the 
Treaty of Rome will play in the Community decision­
making process. 
Insurance is only one of an ever-growing number of 
instances. 
It is reiterated that when the Directives are being 
implemented, the ESC and the social categories repre­
sented on it generally must be able to submit proposals 
to the Commission departments. 
It would be unacceptable if, as part of the executive 
powers delegated to it by the Council, the Commission 
were to be given genuine regulatory power, especially 
in drawing up new proposals, without the European 
Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee 
being formally involved. 
8. More generally the ESC considers it necessary to 
undertake an examination of the workings of various 
types of committees with a view to establishing its own 
opinion on this subject as a whole. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois STAEDELIN 
18. 4. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 102/13 
APPENDIX 
to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee 
The following amendment, which received at least one quarter of the votes cast, was rejected during the 
course of the discussion: 
Point 5 
Amend the first paragraph as follows: 
'Since the Council decision in 1987, the Commission, with the support of the European Parliament, has 
endeavoured to persuade the Council to apply procedures vesting it with the widest possible executive 
powers.' 
Reason 
Self-explanatory. 
Votes 
For: 15, against: 18, abstentions: 23. 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision establishing the second phase of the TEDIS 
programme (Trade Electronic Data Interchange Systems) 
(91/C 102/06) 
On 18 December 1990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing 
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 6 February 1991. The Rappor­
teur was Mr Nierhaus. 
At its 284th plenary session (meeting of 27 February 1991) the Economic and Social Committee 
unanimously adopted the following Opinion. 
1. Introduction 
1.1. At the end of 1986 the Commission submitted 
a proposal for a Council Regulation introducing the 
preparatory phase of a Community programme on tra­
de electronic data interchange systems (TEDIS). The 
Committee issued an Opinion in February 1987 in 
which it supported the draft in principle, but drew 
attention to the low level of funding relative to the 
large number of planned actions. The Committee made 
its further assessment of the programme dependent on 
additional information on the priorities and financing 
of the next phase of TEDIS. 1.2. The Council of Ministers adopted the pro­
gramme on 5 October 1987. The Commission's orig­
inally planned starting date was postponed by a year 
to 1 January 1988 and the funds were cut by about 
10% to ECU 5,3 million. 
1.3. In its Opinion of 15 December 1988 the Com­
mittee gave its support to a proposal for an amendment 
designed to enable the countries of the European Free 
Trade Association (EFTA) to participate in the TEDIS 
programme. And in an Opinion of 19 December 1989 
the Committee welcomed the proposal for a corre­
sponding agreement as highly favourable to the further 
development of TEDIS.