Commission threatens to remove the insurance industry's exemption from the EU competition rules

22 April 2008

The European Commission (Commission) has announced it is consulting with insurance companies to enable it to decide whether to retain the current Block Exemption Regulation (BER) which currently keeps a wide range of industry practices outside the scope of the strict rules on anti-competitive agreements. The BER is due to expire in March 2010.

The consultation comes at a time when competition authorities across the EU have shown an increased willingness to look at the insurance market for evidence of anti-competitive activity. It also draws on comments made by the Commission during its Business Insurance Sector Inquiry (Sector Inquiry), which looked in some detail at the workings of the industry.

• Alex Haffner