WRITTEN QUESTION P-3188/00 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Failure by insurance companies to cover treatment of road accident victims.
Date: 2000-10-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, competence of the Member States, hospital expenses, insurance company, insurance indemnity, insurance law, motor vehicle insurance, social security

C 136 E/202

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

8.5.2001

(2001/C 136 E/236)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3188/00

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(4 October 2000)

Subject: Failure by insurance companies to cover treatment of road accident victims

The financial burden incurred by Greek social security agencies to cover hospital expenses, outpatient care
and benefits for road accident victims is a substantial one. This is because a large part of the medical
expenses are not covered by the private insurance companies which insure vehicles and drivers, but by
public social security agencies, which are not able to claim back these expenses from the private
companies. A typical example is the IKA social security institution which during 1996 paid out
GRD 20,6 billion on medical expenses for victims of road accidents.

What are the Commission(cid:146)s views on the situation described above, which is tantamount to an indirect
subsidy to private Greek insurance companies and is a burden on the budget of public social security
agencies? Should it be seen as a competition problem? Are social security agencies in other Member States
entitled to claim back from insurance companies part of the expenses they pay out in connection with
road accidents?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(31 October 2000)

One of the objectives of the Directives in force with regard to motor vehicle insurance (1) is to ensure that
victims of accidents who suffered injury through the fault of a driver are covered by the compulsory
insurance of the vehicle which caused the accident. This insurance covers liability for bodily harm to all
passengers apart from the driver. Under Community law as it stands at present, the driver is excluded from
cover through his own compulsory motor vehicle insurance where he was at fault.

The question asked by the Honourable Member refers to an external aspect of insurance relations, that is
to say, the possibility for a third party who bore the hospitalisation costs of the victim (in this case social
insurance bodies) to obtain reimbursement of these costs from the insurance company of the vehicle at
fault. The Directives on insurance do not deal with this aspect which is left to the national law of the
Member States.

(1) Council Directive 72/166/EEC of 24 April 1972 (OJ L 103, 2.5.1972), Council Directive 84/5/EEC of 30 December
1983 (OJ L 8, 11.1.1984), Council Directive 90/232/EEC of 14 May 1990 (OJ L 129, 19.5.1990) and Directive
2000/26/EC of the Parliament and the Council of 16 May 2000 (OJ L 181, 20.7.2000).

(2001/C 136 E/237)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3196/00

by Esko Sepp(cid:228)nen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(12 October 2000)

Subject: EU funding for NGOs

The Commission is able to support a number of NGOs(cid:146) activities in various countries within the limits of
the EU(cid:146)s annual budget. Since this aid should be public and transparent, can the Commission state to
which organisations the Commission or its Finnish office directed EU budget appropriations in 1999, and
what amounts were involved?