Press Release: Motor vehicle insurance: Commission starts infringement proceedings against Italy

On 12.7.00 the Commission decided to start infringement proceedings against Italy under Article 226 of the EC Treaty in respect of the freeze imposed on motor vehicle liability insurance premiums. Since 29 March insurance companies doing business in Italy have no longer been free to fix their commercial offers and premiums. The Commission takes the view that these measures could be incompatible with the requirements of the Third Non-Life Directive, which sets out to achieve unrestricted marketing of insurance products in the European Union. The Commission will, therefore, be sending a letter of formal notice to the Italian authorities asking them to notify their observations within three weeks of notification.