WRITTEN QUESTION E-2124/99 by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Commission. The United Kingdom and the transposition of the Community directives relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles.
Date: 1999-11-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: United Kingdom, approximation of laws, consumer protection, directive (EU), indemnification, motor vehicle insurance, national implementing measure, national law, third-party insurance, transport accident

C 225 E/54

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

8.8.2000

When the framework regulation on the Structural Funds was adopted, the Commission was supposed to
have committed itself to taking into account the particular circumstances of individual Member States
when making an overall examination of the eligible zones.

Can the Commission answer the following questions:

1. What are the reasons that have led to this drastic decision, for which there is not even any provision

in the above-mentioned regulation?

2. Does the Commission not consider that it has failed to take sufficient account of possible opportu-

nities for derogation connected with Italy(cid:146)s particular circumstances?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(21 January 2000)

The proposed list of areas eligible for Objective 2 sent to the Commission by the Italian authorities
1.
on 1 October 1999 was considered not to be acceptable because it did not comply with Article 4(4) of
Council Regulation No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural
Funds (1). This paragraph stipulates that in each Member State the areas meeting the (cid:145)Community(cid:146) criteria
laid down in Article 4(5) and (6) must contain at least 50 % of the population eligible for Objective 2
assistance. However, the areas put forward by the Italian authorities in compliance with these criteria
contained only 2,2 million people (i.e. only 29,6 % of the total eligible population).

2.
The Commission considers that the Regulation, which was adopted by all the Member States and
received the assent of the European Parliament, provides considerable scope for accommodating the
specific circumstances of Italy and that it is not necessary to resort to derogations from the regulatory
framework.

For example, the Italian authorities are not obliged to submit a proposal for all of the areas meeting the
Community criteria (the population of which is 5 021 900). All they are required to submit is a list of
areas satisfying these criteria in which the total population is at least 3 701 000.

They are also permitted to calculate 50 % of the eligible population according to (cid:145)national(cid:146) criteria laid
down in Article 4(7) to (9) of the Regulation.

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.

(2000/C 225 E/054)

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(cid:146) 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(cid:146) 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 (cid:145)motor vehicle accident victims should be guaranteed
comparable treatment
irrespective of where in the Community accidents occur(cid:146). The deadline for
transposition of this directive was 31 December 1992 and any extensions are exclusively limited to the
(cid:145)Member States whose economies show differences in development(cid:146) and, therefore, do not apply to the
United Kingdom.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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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.