07/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 7 January, the European Commission published a report by Oxera Consulting Ltd on national guarantee schemes in the life assurance and non-life assurance sectors. These guarantee schemes protect policy holders against risks of their insurance company going bankrupt. The study carried out a comparative analysis of schemes in force in 13 member states. It assesses the policy options available at European level (e.g. status quo, legislative harmonisation) to tackle the problems caused by the coexistence of different national approaches. These options were considered in the light of criteria such as consumer protection, market stability and competition. Further information is available at http: //ec.europa.eu/internal_market/insurance/docs/guaranteee_scheme_en.pdf (M.B.)