Another interesting post from the European Commission last week revealed that it will be calling on experts to examine obstacles in the cross-border trade in insurance products. These barriers are often caused by different national laws governing insurance contracts and the European Commission plans to determine how big the differences between national contract laws are and whether they hinder cross-border use of insurance for European businesses and/or consumers. It is likely that the consultation would focus only on certain types of insurance, e.g., motor and travel insurance, life insurance. The schedule predicts that the results of this consultation would be known at the end of 2013 and further action plan could be drafted then. For call for applications see here. (open till 21 February 2013)
"(...) just 0.6% of all motor insurance premiums and 2.8% of property insurance premiums are offered to customers across EU borders (...)” said Vice-President Viviane Reding (Commission to examine legal obstacles to cross-border trade in insurance)
