ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(82)120
Vol.1982/0042

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenne etdelaCommunauté européenne del'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiés conformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
Inaccordance withCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
Community andtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity (OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocuments inthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung (EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeit zugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION
DES
COMMUNAUTES EUROPEENNES
Secrétaria*~géfré<ro4 *COM (82)120 final
10March 1982
BruxellesJe-
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE ACCESSION OFSPAIN
RIGHT OFESTABLISHMENT AND
FREEDOM TOPROVIDE SERVICES
-INSURANCE
(Communication from theCommission totheCouncil )
COM (82)120 final

LNTRODUCTIOIT
Inthecontextofthenegotiations concerningthechapterrelatingto
rightofestablishment andfreedomtoprovideservices,on
26February1982theSpanishdelegationtransmittedtotheCommunity
afurtherstatementontheinsurancesectordealingwithinternational
co-insurance andmotorvehiclecivilliabilityinsurance.
InthelightofthisstatementtheCommissionhassupplemented and
amendeditsCommunication totheCouncilof12February1982
(COM(82)54final).

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Inthecontextofthenegotiations onSpanishaccession,theCommission
agreedtoputforward ,proposalsforthefieldscoveredbythemini-
packagewhichistobenegotiatedattheConferenceatMinisteriallevel
on22March1982.
»
On26February1982,Spainsubmittedastatementonrightofestablishment
andfreedomtoprovideservicesintheinsurancefield,whichrequiresan
immediateresponsefromtheCommission.
TheresponseissetoutinthisdraftCommunication .Accordinglyitis
proposedthattheCommissionapprovetheCommunication anddecidethat
itbesenttotheCouncil.

A. International co-insurance
TheSpanish delegation provided statistical evidence showing the
weakness ofthe Spanish insurance market inrelation tothat ofthe
other Member States . This weakness isdue tothe fact that the market
ishighly fragmented andtotal premium income isrelatively small .
Inthelight ofthis situation theSpanish delegation concludes that
immediate application oftheCo-insurance Directive would have
disastrous effects ontheSpanish market ,asthis directive permits
thecoverage ofmajor risks situated inaMember State byinsurers not
established inthat State . Atthepresent time risks situated inSpain
must beentirely covered byinsurers established inSpain .Because
there arevirtually noSpanish undertakings with thenecessary capacity
forparticipating inmajor risk contracts ,theentirety ofthat market
could suddenly beswamped byCommunity undertakings .
Consequently ,theSpanish delegation haswithdrawn itsearlier request
forastraightforward temporary derogation from Directive 78/473/EEC
andproposed applying this directive gradually asfollows over a
nine-year period :
/
i.theleading insurer should beestablished inSpanish territory ;
ii.thecontract would besubject toSpanish law ;
iii .thetechnical reserves forthe share covered byinsurers
established inSpain would also besubject tothis law ;
iv.theSpanish market would gradually beopened uptoCommunity
insurers inthe course ofthe same nine-year period .

TheSpanishdelegationhasconfirmedthatattheendofthisperiod
thedirectivewouldhefullyapplicable,whichmeansthatnopartof
thecontractwouldhereservedforinsurersestablishedinSpain.
Thiswouldalsoapplytotheleadinginsurer,whocouldbeestablished
inanyotherCommunityMemberState(pagesl8and19oftheSpanish
statement).
TheCommissionhasdulynotedthenewdataprovidedbytheSpanish
delegationandacknowledges thatimmediateapplicationofthis
directiveuponaccessioncouldcreateacertainimbalanceonthe
Spanishmarketforthemajorriskscoveredbythisdirective.There
isariskthatSpanishundertakings whicharestilltoosmalland
intheprocessofamalgamating maynotbeabletotakeadvantage
ofthenewopportunities providedbyCommunityco-insurance ,
particularly asthedirectivedoesnotinfactimposeanyconditions
regardingtheplaceofestablishment oftheleadinginsurerprovided
heisauthorizedinaccordancewiththeFirstCoordination Directive
of24July1973(73/239/EBC).TheFirstCoordinationDirectivedoes
notreserveanyshareofco-insurance contractsforinsurers
established intheMemberStateoftherisk.
Commissionproposal
TheCommissioncouldacceptatransitional solutionlimitedtoseven
9
yearswherebytheobligationfortheleadinginsurertobeestablished
inSpaincouldbemaintainedandashareofthecontractcouldbe
reservedforinsurersestablishedinSpainandphasedoutasfollows:

-3-
80fo forthefirsttwoyearsafteraccession
Wo onexpiryofthethirdyear
60$
»onexpiryofthefourthyear
lofo onexpiryofthefifthyear
20fo onexpiryofthesixthyear
Thedirectivewouldbefullyapplicableonexpiryofthe
seventhyear.
B.Motorvehiclecivilliabilityinsurance
TheSpanishdelegationhasnowmadeclearinitsnewstatementthat
thetemporaryderogationforDirective72/166/EECshouldlastfor
nineyear.
TohackupthisrequesttheSpanishdelegationhasprovidedawhole
seriesofargumentsbasedonstatisticstoprovethatcurrentpremiums
chargedformotorvehiclecivilliabilityinsurancearedistinctly
lowerforthevariouscategoriesofvehiclesthanthetariffsinforce
intheotherMemberStates.Thiscanbeexplainedbythefactthat
insurershavedifferentobligations imposedonthem.TheCommission's
positionassetoutinitsCommunication totheCouncilof12February
hasnotbeenchangedbythesearguments.Thesolutionwhichthe
CommissionproposedinitsCommunication wouldseemlikelytofacilitate
thepracticalapplicationoftheDirectivewithoutcallingintoquestion
itsconsequencesatCommunitylevel,forinstanceasregardsthe
abolitionofthegreencardcheckatfrontiers.