Brussels, 28/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The services of the Directorate General for the Internal Market at the European Commission have just published on their website the results of the public consultation launched on 16 June on motor insurance (see EUROPE 8974). The Commission opened this consultation in order to prepare a report on two aspects of motor insurance: 1) the effectiveness of the compensation funds mentioned in article 6 of the fourth directive on motor insurance, which envisages that each Member State must create a compensation fund which any person harmed can apply, including those injured in an accident which took place outside their Member State of residence. The national compensation bodies can be applied to when the insurer has failed to appoint a claims representative in the victim's Member State of residence; 2) certain issues linked to the insurance of trailers, brought up in particular by the European Parliament. The Commission's report will soon be presented in the form of a communication.
There are currently five directives on motor insurance designed to guarantee the free movement of vehicles in the EU. The latest, published in the Official Journal of the EU on 11 June 2005, aims to modernise the existing directives and improve protection for victims. The fourth essentially consisted of establishing a mechanism for the rapid resolution for the victims of accident outside their Member State of residence, whereas the three previous directives ensured the establishment of a single market for motor insurance by making insurance obligatory for all vehicles in the EU and abolishing controls of insurance certificates at borders.