WRITTEN QUESTION E-2124/99

by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 November 1999)

Subject: The United Kingdom and the transposition of the Community directives relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles

In the United Kingdom at present, the Road Traffic Act 1991 prescribes a sentence of between five and ten years' imprisonment in cases concerning careless and/or reckless driving causing death, while the level of civil compensation laid down is insignificant and offensive to the feelings of the family, equating as it does a human life with the cost of a small car.

The European Union has already legislated on this matter to bring about the approximation of the Member States' laws (Directive 72/166/EEC(1) of 24 April 1972 and Directive 84/5/EEC(2)) and Directive 90/232/EEC(3) of 14 May 1990 specifically states that motor vehicle accident victims should be guaranteed comparable treatment irrespective of where in the Community accidents occur. The deadline for transposition of this directive was 31 December 1992 and any extensions are exclusively limited to the Member States whose economies show differences in development and, therefore, do not apply to the United Kingdom.

It is also well known that there are significant variations between the Member States regarding the amounts paid as compensation for personal injury.

The Commission:

1. Can it investigate whether the above-mentioned directive has been transposed into national law and applied correctly, or whether in this case a contravention has occurred?

2. Does it not think it would be advisable to adopt a legislative proposal designed to harmonise the levels of compensation for personal injury resulting from road accidents?

(1) OJ L 103, 2.5.1972, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 8, 11.1.1984, p. 17.

(3) OJ L 129, 19.5.1990, p. 33.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(21 December 1999)

The Commission is aware of the existing differences in the level of civil compensation for personal damages as a result of motor accidents throughout the Community. Such differences not only exist between the Member States but often within a Member State, depending on the court which is competent to decide an individual case. This situation is not a consequence of the lack of implementation or of the inappropriate application of the Community insurance directives but of the coexistence in the Community of different national legislation on civil liability which is not harmonised. Furthermore in most Member States national legislation, which provides for minimum compensation amounts for compulsory motor insurance, does not specify the compensation for the different categories of personal material and non-material damages. These compensations are decided by the courts for each individual case.

The first, the second and the third motor insurance directives (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; 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; third Council Directive 90/232/EEC of 14 May on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles), mentioned by the Honourable Member have been implemented into national legislation by all Member States. These directives not only deal with the minimum compensation amounts for compulsory insurance but with other important elements for consumers such as the coverage of all the occupants of the car, limitations on exclusion clauses in the policy and setting up a compensation body or guarantee fund to cover accidents caused by uninsured or unidentified vehicles. The application of these directives seems to be satisfactory in general terms, although, where a case of inappropriate implementation or application has been detected, the Commission has not hesitated to contact the Member State in question or, when necessary, open the relevant infringement proceedings.

The Commission would remind the Honourable Member that a fourth motor insurance directive (common position (EC) No 24/1999 of 21 May 1999 adopted by the Council acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the Community, with a view to adopting a Parliament and Council Directive 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 amending Directives 73/239/EEC and 88/357/EEC(1)) in order to facilitate the insurance compensation for damage to victims having an accident in a Member State other than the Member State where they are resident was proposed by the Commission and is now being discussed in the second reading by the Parliament. Furthermore, the Commission carried out in 1999 a survey on the modernisation of the motor insurance directives involving all interested parties and is setting up a working group on this matter with the participation of Member States authorities.

(1) OJ C 232, 13.8.1999.