Strasbourg, 19/06/2002 (Agence Europe) -The European Parliament last week adopted the report by Spanish Socialist Luis Berenguer Fuster in second reading on insurance brokers, keeping close to the Council's common position and only keeping amendments agreed to by the European Commission. It rejected a controversial amendment that would have excluded a series of brokers covering professional risks from the directive. The directive on insurance intermediaries should be adopted without a conciliation procedure with the Council being necessary. This text will allow brokers to work anywhere in the EU, setting common rules for the registration of brokers - experience, competence, reputation, financial capacity and indemnity insurance.
The amendments introduced by the European Parliament ensure there will not be any "rebound discrimination" of stricter national rules for brokers established in one Member State than in another. The amendments stipulate that peoples supplying occasional information as part of their business activity are not covered by the directive unless this activity has the aim of helping a customer sign or implement an insurance contract. Brokers who were in business before September 2000 can be automatically included in the register of brokers as long as they were registered and had similar knowledge and skills to those required by the directive.
The EP rejected an amendment whereby brokers advertising "impartial analysis" for their clients have to be provide "the best advice to meet the needs expressed by the customer". Preferring a more precise wording proposed by the Socialist Group, the EP notes that once a broker advertises "objective analysis", he or she must base their advice on the analysis of a sufficient number of insurance contracts available on the market in order to be able to recommend an insurance contract suitable for the customer's needs on the basis of his or her professional criteria.