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Anna Bicarregui, John Pheasant, May 27, 2008
It has been clear since the European Commission published its final report in relation to the business insurance sector inquiry in September 2007 that the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation was about to come under close scrutiny. Quite apart from the Commission’s legal obligation to submit a report on the functioning and future of the Block Exemption to the Council and the European Parliament by March 31, 2009, the final report revealed that, despite the overwhelming support from the insurance community, the Commission was skeptical about the continued need for the Block Exemption at least as far as business insurance was concerned. The Commission’s view was that, in the light of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 (which changed the system from one requiring undertakings to notify agreements to the Commission which would decide whether or not to clear them to a system of self assessment), and on the basis of the experience accumulated in relation to the different forms of cooperation permitted under the Block Exemption, market participants no longer needed a form-based sectoral block exemption and should be able to conduct their own self-assessment of the application of Article 81(3) as in other sectors. The final report concluded that the business insurance sector inquiry had “not produced compelling reasons, as regards business insurance, to prolong [the Block Exemption] beyond 2010.” In light of that assessment, compelling reasons will have to be produced by the insurance industry during the consultation period if it is to retain the benefits of the Block Exemption post 2010.
