Communication of the Commission to Member States amending the communication pursuant to Article 93(1) of the EC Treaty applying Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty to short-term export-credit insurance
Date: 2005-12-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: State aid, credit insurance, export credit, export credit insurance, private insurance, short-term credit, small and medium-sized enterprises

C 325/22

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

22.12.2005

Communication of the Commission to Member States amending the communication pursuant to
Article 93(1) of the EC Treaty applying Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty to short-term export-
credit insurance

(2005/C 325/11)

I. Introduction

able risk accordingly as part of the general review of the
1997 communication in 2004.’

The communication of the Commission to the Member States
pursuant to Article 93(1) of the EC Treaty applying Articles 92
and 93 of the Treaty to short-term export-credit insurance (1)
(hereinafter referred to as ‘the 1997 communication’) was
adopted in 1997 and was to apply for a period of five years
from 1 January 1998 until 31 December 2002.

In 2001, the Commission adopted an amendment to the 1997
communication (2) (hereinafter referred to as ‘the 2001 amend-
ment’) concerning the definition of ‘marketable’ risks which
may not be covered by export-credit insurers with the support
of the State. The 2001 amendment also extended the validity
of the 1997 communication until 31 December 2004. The
validity of the 1997 communication was further extended until
31 December 2005 by a communication adopted by the
Commission in 2004 (3).

According to point 2.6 of the 1997 communication as laid
down in the 2001 amendment:

‘The capacity of the private reinsurance market varies. This
means that the definition of marketable risks is not immu-
table and may change over time. The definition may, there-
fore, be reviewed, notably at the expiry of this communica-
tion on 31 December 2004. The Commission will consult
Member States and other
interested parties on such
reviews (10). In so far as necessary, changes to the definition
will have to take account of the scope of Community legis-
lation governing export-credit insurance, in order to avoid
any conflict or legal uncertainty.

(10) Inter alia, the Commission will call on the help of the

Council (for example, its Export Credits Group)’.

The 2001 amendment also states in its introduction that:

‘The Commission wishes to inform Member States and
interested parties that it intends to undertake a further
study in 2003 to verify the capacity of the private reinsur-
ance market to adapt to a further extension of the defini-
tion of marketable risk to cover a wider range of commer-
cial risks, possibly including commercial risks arising in all
countries of the world. Should the results of that study and
consultations with Member States confirm that
such
coverage is possible, it will amend the definition of market-

Following the completion of a study on the situation of the
private reinsurance market in the field of export credit insur-
ance, and after consultation of the Member States both within
the Council Working Group on Export Credits and at a multi-
lateral meeting on State aid as well as of other interested
parties, the Commission has decided to leave unchanged the
definition of ‘marketable’ risks contained in the 2001 amend-
ment. However, due to the unavailable or insufficient cover in
the majority of Member States of export-credit
insurance
offered by private insurers to small companies with a limited
export turnover, which is caused by no or very low profitability
reflecting an insufficient spread of foreign countries/buyers and
lack of education and knowledge of the complexities of export-
credit insurance among such companies entailing significant
handholding and processing costs, the Commission is prepared
their export-related risks as temporarily ‘non-
to consider
marketable’ in these Member States where there is no adequate
offer by the private market, also in consideration of the need
for the commercial insurers to adapt to the increased market
size created by the EU enlargement.

This new provision will apply from 1 January 2006 until 31
the Commission will assess the
December 2010. However,
market situation for those SMEs with limited export turnover
within three years. Should export-credit insurance cover for
such SMEs prove to be sufficiently available in the private
market, the Commission will amend this Communication by
considering their export-related risks as ‘marketable.’

The Commission has also decided to extend the validity of the
1997 Communication until 31 December 2010.

The Commission wishes to inform Member States and inter-
ested parties that in 2010 it will re-examine the capacity of the
private reinsurance market to adapt the definition of ‘market-
able’ risks accordingly if necessary, in particular with regard to
the new situation considered to give rise to ‘non-marketable’
risks.

II. Amendments to the 1997 communication

(1) OJ C 281, 17.9.1997, p. 4.
(2) OJ C 217, 2.8.2001, p. 2.
(3) OJ C 307, 11.12.2004, p. 12.

The following amendments to the 1997 communication as
amended by the 2001 amendment will take effect on 1 January
2006:

22.12.2005

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 325/23

1. In point 2.5, the following paragraph is introduced after the

first paragraph:

“marketable”

risks
the definition of
‘Notwithstanding
contained in the first sentence of the previous paragraph, if
and to the extent that no private insurance market exists in
a Member State, commercial and political risks incurred on
public and non-public debtors established in the countries
listed in the Annex are considered to be temporarily non-
marketable if incurred by small and medium-sized enter-
prises falling within the relevant EU definition (1) and having
a total annual export
turnover not exceeding EUR 2
million (2).
In such circumstances, a public or publicly
supported export-credit insurer shall, as far as possible, align
its premium rates for such “non-marketable” risks with the
rates charged elsewhere by export-credit insurers for the
type of risk in question, namely taking into account the
limited spread of foreign buyers, the characteristics of the
insured enterprises, and the associated costs. Member States
intending to submit a notification to the Commission on
the application of this clause shall be subject to the same
procedure and the same conditions as set out in point 4.4
below for the application of the escape clause. The Commis-

sion reserves the right to discontinue this clause or to revise
the conditions of
its application in consultation with
Member States if it finds that the capacity of the private
insurance market in this segment changes during the period
of validity of this Communication’.

2. Point 2.6 is replaced by the following:

‘The capacity of the private reinsurance market varies. This
means that the definition of marketable risks is not immu-
table and may change over time. The definition may, there-
fore, be reviewed, notably at the expiry of this communica-
tion. The Commission will consult Member States' represen-
tatives with relevant experience in this field and other inter-
ested parties on such reviews.
In so far as necessary,
changes to the definition will have to take account of the
scope of Community legislation governing export-credit
in order to avoid any conflict or legal uncer-
insurance,
tainty’.

3. Point 4.5 is replaced by the following:

‘This Communication will apply until 31 December 2010’.

(1) Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003
concerning the definition of small and medium-sized enterprises, OJ
L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36, as may be amended in the future.

(2) The calculation of

turnover will be
the relevant annual export
effected according to Article 4 of Annex I of Commission Recom-
mendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003, as may be amended in the
future. The provisions laid down in Article 4(2) of Annex I will
apply mutatis mutandis with respect to the annual export turnover of
the relevant enterprise.