§ Mr. Curryasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the adoption of European Community directives on credit and suretyship insurance. and on legal expenses insurance.
§ Mr. MaudeThe Council of Ministers adopted on 22 June two directives on credit and suretyship insurance, and legal expenses insurance. These directives bring to an end a temporary dispensation which had enabled Germany to require that credit, suretyship and legal expenses insurance may be performed only by undertakings specialising in the relevant class of insurance. They also provide for further harmonisation of the conduct of credit insurance and legal expenses insurance. In both cases the United Kingdom had obtained significant improvements during negotiations to meet our own concerns. Among these improvements were the exclusion of state export credit insurers from the scope of the directive on credit insurance and in the directive on legal expenses insurance we secured provision enabling the motoring associations to be exempted from certain of the directive's requirements. These and other improvements might have been called into question had the United Kingdom delayed adoption beyond 1 July, the date on which the Single European Act came into force. I therefore judged that it was in the United Kingdom's interest not to delay adoption of the two measures until the House had completed its consideration of the Commission's proposals. I regret that the normal procedures were not followed on this occasion, but I hope the House will understand the special reasons why the Government agreed to the adoption of the two directives in these circumstances.