WRITTEN QUESTION E-2201/98

by Jonas Sjöstedt (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(14 July 1998)

Subject: Insurance of German cars in Sweden

Private individuals in Sweden who opt to import their cars directly rather than go through a Swedish dealer are discriminated against in that insurance companies raise their requirements to insure cars coming directly from Germany on the grounds that there is a higher risk of their being stolen. The requirements are an immobiliser, marked windows and an alarm, which increases the cost to the owner by some SEK(10)000. Employment created in Västerbotten by Reidars Bil, a firm importing cars from other EU countries on behalf of private buyers, is now under threat.

Is there any EC Directive which regulates these problems and what action will the Commission take in response to this incongruous situation?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(12 November 1998)

The Community Motor Insurance Directives provide for the introduction of a system of compulsory insurance against civil liability guaranteeing compensation for victims of road accidents. They make insurance against civil liability compulsory for motorists(1), define the extent of this protection by setting minimum protection thresholds (in ecus) that are applicable in every Member State and by specifying who is to be covered by those compulsory arrangements in respect of civil liability(2), and provide for complete coverage of the territory of the Community on the basis of a single premium(3). They do not, however, contain any provisions on comprehensive insurance, which includes anti-theft insurance, and harmonisation in this respect is not under consideration, for the time being at least. Firstly, Member States are not in favour of harmonisation and this would effectively prevent a directive on comprehensive insurance being adopted by the Council. Secondly, standardising all insurance products might be disadvantageous to the consumer, who currently enjoys a wide choice of products on the markets of the different Member States.

As regards the less favourable conditions applied to imported cars than to cars manufactured in Sweden, it should be pointed out that the rules of the Treaty on the prohibition of nationality-based discrimination and on free movement are, in principle, applicable to state measures and not to measures of private origin. The Court of Justice has accepted exceptions to this rule only in cases where restrictions of private origin result from measures of a private nature aimed at laying down on a collective basis the conditions for carrying on a professional activity(4). However, the individual behaviour of insurance companies in the context of their relations with their customers cannot be covered by this exception. The contractual link between insurer and insured creates private-law links which, in principle, fall within the scope of national law and may be the subject of appeals before the national courts.

In any event, the information provided by the Honourable Member is not sufficient to enable the Commission to establish whether or not the differential treatment which Swedish insurance companies may apply to cars imported from other Member States is discriminatory. For example, if the anti-theft equipment fitted to these cars does not correspond to that fitted to cars sold in Sweden - possibly because the conditions laid down for anti-theft insurance in other Member States are less stringent than in Sweden - Swedish insurance companies are entitled to require the owners of such vehicles to supplement this equipment with more efficient systems.

(1) Council Directive 72/166/EEC of 24 April 1972 on the approximation of the laws of 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 (OJ L 103, 2.5.1972).

(2) Second Council Directive 84/5/EEC of 30 December 1983 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles (OJ L 8, 11.1.1984).

(3) Third Council Directive 90/232/EEC of 14 May 1990 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles (OJ L 129, 19.5.1990).

(4) Case C-55/94 Gebhard [1995] ECRI-4165; Case C-415/93 Bosman [1995] ECR I-4921.