Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 60/2004 of 26 April 2004 amending Annex IX (Financial services) to the EEA Agreement
Date: 2004-04-26
Institutions: EEA Joint Committee
Subjects: freedom to provide services, insurance, insurance company, insurance law, life assurance, right of establishment

L 277/172

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Official Journal of the European Union

26.8.2004

DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE

No 60/2004

of 26 April 2004

amending Annex IX (Financial services) to the EEA Agreement

THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as amended by the Protocol adjusting
the Agreement on the European Economic Area, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’, and in particu-
lar Article 98 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Annex IX to the Agreement was amended by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 8/2004 of 6
February 2004 (1).

Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002
concerning life assurance (2) is to be incorporated into the Agreement.

Directive 2002/83/EC repeals, with effect
its entry into force, Directives
79/267/EEC (3), 90/619/EEC (4) and 92/96/EEC (5), which are incorporated into the Agreement and
which are consequently to be deleted from the Agreement,

from the date of

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Annex IX to the Agreement shall be amended as specified in the Annex to this Decision.

Article 1

Article 2

The texts of Directive 2002/83/EC in the Icelandic and Norwegian languages, to be published in the EEA
Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union, shall be authentic.

This Decision shall enter into force on 27 April 2004, provided that all the notifications under Article
103(1) of the Agreement have been made to the EEA Joint Committee (*).

Article 3

This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal
of the European Union.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 26 April 2004.

For the EEA Joint Committee

The President

P. WESTERLUND

(1) OJ L 116 , 22.4.2004, p. 54.
(2) OJ L 345, 19.12.2002, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 63, 13.3.1979, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 330, 29.11.1990, p. 50.
(5) OJ L 360, 9.12.1992, p. 1.
(*) No constitutional requirements indicated.

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Annex IX to the Agreement shall be amended as follows:

ANNEX

1. The text of point 11 (Council Directive 79/267/EEC) shall be replaced with the following:

‘32002 L 0083: Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002
concerning life assurance (OJ L 345, 19.12.2002, p. 1).

The text of the Directive shall, for the purposes of the present Agreement, be read with the following adaptations:

(a) the following shall be added to Article 6.1(a):

— in the case of Iceland:

Hlutafélag, Gagnkvæmt félag.

— in the case of Liechtenstein:

Aktiengesellschaft, Genossenschaft, Stiftung.

— in the case of Norway:

Aksjeselskaper, Gjensidige selskaper.

(b) Article 57 shall not apply; the following provision shall be applicable:

Each Contracting Party may, by means of agreements concluded with one or more third countries, agree to the
application of provisions different from those provided for in Articles 51, 52 and 54 to 56 of the Directive on
the condition that its insured persons are given adequate and equivalent protection.

The Contracting Parties shall inform and consult each other prior to concluding such agreements.

The Contracting Parties shall not apply provisions to branches of insurance undertakings having their head office
outside the territory of the Contracting Parties which result in more favourable treatment than that accorded to
branches of insurance undertakings having their head office within the territory of the Contracting Parties;

(c) As regards relations with third-country insurance undertakings described in Article 59 the following shall apply:

1. With a view to achieving a maximum degree of convergence in the application of a third-country regime for
insurance undertakings, the Contracting Parties shall exchange information as described in Articles 59(1) and
59(5). Consultations shall be held regarding matters referred to in Articles 59(2), 59(3) and 59(4), within the
framework of the EEA Joint Committee and according to specific procedures to be agreed by the Contracting
Parties.

2. Authorisations granted by the competent authorities of a Contracting Party to insurance undertakings which
are direct or indirect subsidiaries of parent undertakings governed by the laws of a third country shall have
validity in accordance with the provisions of the Directive throughout the territory of all Contracting Parties.

However,

(a) where a third country imposes quantitative restrictions on the establishment of insurance undertakings of
an EFTA State, or imposes restrictions on such insurance undertakings that it does not impose on Com-
munity insurance undertakings, authorisations granted by competent authorities within the Community to
insurance undertakings which are direct or indirect subsidiaries of parent undertakings governed by the
laws of that third country shall have validity only in the Community, except where an EFTA State decides
otherwise for its own jurisdiction;

(b) where the Community has decided that decisions regarding authorisations of insurance undertakings
which are direct or indirect subsidiaries of parent undertakings governed by the laws of a third country,
shall be limited or suspended, any authorisation granted by a competent authority of an EFTA State to
such insurance undertakings shall have validity only in its jurisdiction, except where another Contracting
Party decides otherwise for its own jurisdiction,

(c) the limitations or suspensions referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) may not apply to insurance under-

takings or their subsidiaries already authorised in the territory of a Contracting Party.

3. Whenever the Community negotiates with a third country on the basis of Article 59(3) and 59(4), in order to
obtain national treatment and effective market access for its insurance undertakings, it shall endeavour to
obtain equal treatment for the insurance undertakings of the EFTA States;

(d) In Article 30(1), the words “European index of consumer prices comprising all Member States” shall be replaced

with the words “EEA index of consumer prices comprising all Contracting Parties”.’

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2. The texts in points 12 (Council Directive 90/619/EEC) and 12a (Council Directive 92/96/EEC) shall be deleted.

3. The following shall be added in the eighth indent (Directive 95/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council) of point 2 (Council Directive 73/239/EEC), first indent (Directive 95/26/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council) of point 7a (Council Directive 92/49/EEC), second indent (Directive 95/26/EC of the European Parlia-
ment and of the Council) of point 30 (Council Directive 85/611/EEC) and first indent (Directive 95/26/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council) of point 30b (Council Directive 93/22/EEC):

‘, as amended by:

— 32002 L 0083: Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 (OJ

L 345, 19.12.2002, p.1).’

4. The following shall be added in the second indent (Directive 2000/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council) of point 7a (Council Directive 92/49/EEC), third indent (Directive 2000/64/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council) of point 30 (Council Directive 85/611/EEC) and second indent (Directive 2000/64/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council) of point 30b (Council Directive 93/22/EEC):

‘, as amended by:

— 32002 L 0083: Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 (OJ

L 345, 19.12.2002, p.1).’