Brussels, 26/08/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 26 August, the European Commission opened formal proceedings to investigate whether certain provisions accompanying claim-sharing and joint-reinsurance agreements in the marine insurance sector might infringe European Union antitrust rules. The Commission fears that the provisions at stake in the agreements between the Protection & Indemnity Clubs (P&I Clubs) within the International Group of P&I Clubs (IG) may harm ship owners and the insurers that are not members of the IG. P&I Clubs are mutual non-profit making associations that provide Protection & Indemnity insurance - a type of direct marine insurance - to their members, the ship owners. The IG is a worldwide association of 13 P&I Clubs. The members of the IG provide P&I insurance to about 93 % of the world's ocean-going tonnage. In the framework of the IG, the P&I Clubs operate two separate agreements, the International Group Agreement and the Pooling Agreement, that contain rules on the sharing of insurance claims and joint reinsurance as well as rules on the contractual relationships between the P&I Clubs and their members. The aim of the procedure is to examine whether certain provisions of the agreements may lessen competition between P&I Clubs as well as restrict, to a certain extent, the access of commercial insurers and/or other mutual P&I insurers to the relevant markets. (O.L./transl.fl)