Press Release: Antitrust: Commission examines use of Insurance Block Exemption Regulation

The European Commission launched a public consultation on the functioning of the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation (BER). The BER exempts from the Commission's ban on restrictive business practices (Article 81) certain co-operation agreements between insurance companies including the establishment of non-binding standard policy conditions, the exchange of statistical information for the calculation of risks and the creation of insurance pools. The public consultation will be combined with targeted questionnaires sent to industry, national regulatory and competition authorities, and consumer groups. Its purpose is to determine how the BER is being used and its impact on the various insurance markets in the EU. The results will help the Commission decide whether or not to renew the BER on its expiry in March 2010. Comments are invited by 17 July 2008, after which the Commission will draft a report and conduct an impact assessment. If the Commission decides to renew or revise the BER, the Commission will consult on a draft. If no further BER is to be enacted, the Commission will publish a Communication to that effect in 2009.